Flames of the Black Cat
by sakurademonalchemist
Summary: Out of all the things that could happen to him, being reincarnated into the body of a girl that just so happens to be the heir of a mafia famiglia was not one of them. Train Heartnet finds himself returning to old skills and making new alliances while trying to figure out what the heck he supposed to do now. The Underworld better prepare because the Black Cat is among them.
1. Chapter 1

Wasn't this an annoying predicament. He had thought he had gotten used to a lot of things. Advanced technology, clones, weird ass powers, the insanity of the criminal element (or just humanity in general)... but this? This felt like fate was deliberately mocking him and telling him that some things were impossible to escape.

Perhaps he should start at the beginning.

He had lived to a ripe old age of fifty before croaking the first time, a rarity considering he used to be a paid assassin for Chronos. After the mess with Creed and Eve, he had more or less settled down.

Then he woke up a squalling infant. A _girl_ , no less.

He had not been pleased.

Here's where things deviated from what he remembered. Apparently after he died, he had been immediately reincarnated. Which kinda sucked because he was really hoping to see Saya again.

For the first few years he had been dormant, blissfully sleeping off the sudden reincarnation. Then something jarred him loose and he ended up with a massive info dump into the body of a five year old little girl who was given the rather adorable name of Hotaru, or 'Firefly'.

Pretty fitting since according to Japanese folklore fireflies carried the spirits of the dead.

He had a twin brother by the name of Ieyasu, though there was something decidedly off about his parents.

Iemitsu was an idiot, but there was an undercurrent in his aura that he had recognized immediately as dangerous. One visit after the memory dump (which strangely happened two years after being woken up so abruptly...Iemitsu lived abroad and gave ridiculous lies as to his real job) was enough to cement his opinion of the man rather firmly as "delusional, narcissistic and a complete pain in the ass to deal with if around". Iemitsu had this annoying vision of a happy family and it didn't take a brain surgeon to realize he would go to great lengths to keep the vision intact, even if it meant doing far more damage than good.

Ieyasu was a typical kid, Hotaru's younger fraternal twin to be exact (he was born twenty minutes after his sister on the fifteenth) and wasn't really a bad person. Just a bit spoiled, but he still cared for his older twin.

Nana though... she had sent alarms ringing through his head the second he had processed what was going on. On the surface she seemed a good, if ditzy mother who maintained an oblivious attitude to reality.

However he had seen right through that in a few weeks of careful observation to try and figure out what had sent warning bells going off every time she was around him alone.

Nana had untreated depression, which was only exasperated by the fact her husband was gone for months, if not years at a time with limited to no contact or even a simple notice he was alive. She wasn't suicidal, thankfully, but her deliberate attempts to remain oblivious to the fact the man wasn't there against the social stigma of being a single mother raising two kids while her husband was gone for long periods of time without a decent explanation was taking a toll on her. She wasn't completely unaware of the rumors about her or her children, but she pretended not to notice and it was hurting her inside.

Ieyasu, who had no idea something was even wrong with their mother, bore a striking resemblance to their father and as such Nana doted on him as a replacement for the man. Almost to unhealthy levels, but fortunately for his concern there was no sign of Nana trying to force her son into her husband's image to a point he would have intervened directly.

It wasn't until he registered that the woman seemed to unconsciously focus more on her 'youngest' child and almost completely forgot about her daughter that he had figured out what had sent off the warning bells.

While the current status quo was being carefully maintained, it wouldn't take much for the balance to tip and Nana to focus entirely on her son and forget her daughter without even realizing it. The depression made it even easier for such a thing to occur, and Hotaru apparently had a bullying problem since she was five after Iemitsu's last visit with his "boss".

It was fortunate he had managed to figure out how to move without tripping over his...or rather 'her' feet by the time Iemitsu had returned. That had been annoying, but at least Hotaru wasn't considered the bottom of the class after summer break. He had long since mastered how to speak and read most Japanese, among other languages and it seemed luck was on his side because quite a few of the languages he had learned before had almost identical equivalents here.

By the time they were about to turn eight, Hotaru had come to realize that her mother was slowly starting to forget she even _had_ a daughter.

Now by this point she (and he had come to a point where 'he' had accepted that they were now a girl who had the mentality of a boy) realized they had a few options available to them. Especially after accidentally summoning Hades to their side. Apparently even in death, their trusted gun never left their side. Except it seemed that the gun had gotten something of an unusual upgrade, because it no longer needed actual bullets to be lethal.

Oh she could load them into the gun, but as long as she was breathing they never actually ran out. A few experiments revealed that in place of bullets, shards of lethal _ice_ would blast from the end of the barrel only to melt after a few minutes away from her. Oddly, it wasn't just bullets.

She could produce a variety of weapons with a little concentration and a _lot_ of practice made out of ice. Fire, for some reason, seemed to more or less elude her...but it felt more like someone had deliberately put a block on that ability so clearly that idiot who called himself her papa had something to do with it.

However it seemed that no matter what world you were on, the criminal underground remained the same. She might have had to travel to another city for a bit to find it (it was oddly absent in Namimori...something about a demon brat that took offense to crimes and bit anyone they caught to death with tonfas of all things), but once she did she blended right in.

Her old aura of a trained killer had never fully disappeared...she had just buried it deep and tried to forget about it.

Hotaru could stay, hope that her mother pulled through and tried to have a normal life.

Considering the entire town felt positively caustic to her sanity and her intelligence with the way everyone seemed to immediately target her for reasons she could never fully explain, she nixed that idea pretty fast. It did not help that she knew far too well how easily Nana could turn against her and treat her daughter as the 'cause' of why her husband was never around or any other perceived slight, just to have a scapegoat.

Since she didn't want her mother or twin to turn on her for something that was beyond her control, she began making escape plans. So long as she had Hades, she could survive on her own with no problem at all.

Besides, it wasn't like she hadn't killed before. She had made her peace with that line of work a long time ago.

Hotaru downed her drink. Thinking about the headache of avoiding a _ten year old_ who apparently didn't like the fact she was leaving his territory always made her want something strong. Hibari Kyouya was weirdly possessive of her for reasons she never did figure out, and took extreme offense that a 'small animal' was leaving when they weren't a legal adult.

Hibari really needed a hobby...it was a pity he was too young to get laid because he could seriously use it.

Hotaru mused to herself...it had been shortly after leaving Japan that things got, well rather annoying really.

She hadn't intended to take up her old profession as a killer-, but it was probably inevitable.

Bounty hunting was nearly impossible, as it meant being a little too close to the 'legal' side of things. Which meant well meaning but annoying adults trying to send her right back to the very situation she had left in the first place because of her age.

Being an assassin might have been doable...if it weren't for the fact that the same group her 'father' had close ties to as the External Adviser also had an elite group that sounded like a less moral version of Chronos. With her skills they would have noticed her pretty damn fast and tried to recruit her, and last she checked they weren't inclined to take 'no' for an answer. With her limited fighting ability she wouldn't have been able to avoid being drafted whether she liked it or not.

Which left the third option, since she needed a sustainable method of gaining income that wouldn't involve the authorities or giving up and going back to Namimori.

She became a hit man. Which was rather ironic, because she had gone from 'trained assassin' to 'Sweeper/bounty hunter' all the way to 'freelance hit man'.

It seemed she was forever doomed to end up with a rather bloody career that made a habit of taking green rookies and either chewing them up and spitting them out, or making the really good ones rather apathetic and cynical.

It was ridiculously comforting to go by her old name again, just without the ties that it had before or having to worry about a pissed off group of other assassins after you for wanting your freedom. She even had her old tattoo XIII on her chest again.

Black Cat was now an up and coming hit man who was very, very good and would always deliver their now signature line when delivering a death blow. No one was aware she was actually a girl and she liked it that way because it meant no one would try to use her gender against her.

There was some annoying rumors that the 'Black Cat' might very well be a contender for the spot of the "World's Greatest Hit Man", which was currently held by Reborn the Sun Arcobaleno...and previously another by the name of Renato Sinclair. The thing that annoyed her the most was the fact that people kept wondering if she was some illegitimate child of "Renato Sinclair", because he had dropped off the grid and no one was entirely sure what her own lineage was. Apparently her skills with guns was eerily similar to his own.

Sensing the presence of another, Hotaru didn't even bother to look. If they wanted to cause trouble she'd gladly oblige them.

"Ciaossu."

There was only _one_ person she had heard of that used that odd greeting. She looked down and sure enough, there was Reborn himself.

He easily got onto the stool. As this was a mafia bar, no one quibbled about his 'age'.

The two of them drank in relative silence, both relatively secure in their own skills to end a confrontation rather violently if it came to it.

It was as she ordered another drink (milk this time, which made Reborn twitch until he realized _she_ was planning to drink it and not offer it to him) that she spoke up.

"So was it the rumors that I'm trying to steal your title or the ones that I'm supposedly some illegitimate love child of a known playboy who held it previously that brought you here?" she asked blandly.

Reborn blinked, before commenting right back "The second, really. Skills like yours don't pop up out of nowhere, and I have a vested... interest...in any children claiming to have Sinclair's bloodline."

She drank her milk.

"I know who my father is, though to be honest I wish he wasn't."

"Bad home life?" he asked.

"No, he's just an idiot who thinks that the cover story of him working in the south pole for a construction company is actually _believable_. The fact he didn't recognize his wife has depression and is drowning in her little fantasy world says far too much about his competence...the narcissistic bastard. I doubt he's even realized I left home after his last visit."

Considering she _had_ kept an ear to the ground for any rumors of that sort, she could safely conclude that Iemitsu had either forgotten he had twins or believed whatever lie Nana had come up with to explain why she wasn't at the house when he visited. She certainly hadn't found any competent watchers around the place and Hibari had given her more trouble than any adults.

Reborn almost felt relieved and at the same time disappointed.

"What's your famiglia?" he asked.

"Considering my father is part of an external group, I honestly have no idea if I can claim to be part of it in the first place. Besides, I like being a freelancer more," said Hotaru easily. "And for the record, I have no idea who started that ridiculous rumor that I'm trying to take your title. I certainly never really cared about it much."

She could tell Reborn was starting to like her, if not as a friend then a possible acquaintance. It was rare to make 'friends' in their line of work and trust didn't come easily.

Seeing the little lizard on his hat, she decided to ask a question that had been bugging her for a while.

"How exactly do you pull off a Chaos Shot? Is it your little chameleon or some weird energy blast?" she asked curiously.

Reborn smirked.

"Trade secret."

Hotaru, in a rare fit of childish behavior, stuck her tongue out at him. Reborn looked openly amused by it.

They were about to finish their drinks when some cocky moron came in and attempted to kill Reborn...only to end up knocked out by a rather fast blow by an annoyed Hotaru.

"I could have handled that," commented Reborn.

"I know, but he interrupted the first decent conversation I've had in months with someone that's actually intelligent and not trying to drag me into some famiglia or another," commented Hotaru. She made a face. "If I have to deal with one more Sky trying to lure me in I'm going to start knee-capping the lot of them. Maybe _then_ they'll take the damn hint I'm not interested."

Reborn actually laughed at that. He could relate.

Still he was somewhat relieved (and a little disappointed) when the cup he swiped to do a DNA test against came up negative. At least he had dispelled that particular rumor of having a child...not that it was possible, considering the Black Cat was far too young to be a direct descendant, unless he they were his grandkid or something.


	2. Chapter 2

Reborn had thought that would be the end of his interaction with the mysterious Black Cat. Out of all the relative 'rookie' hit men out there, the oddball girl had been the one that stood out in his mind. Considering his own reputation that was quite the feat.

Black Cat hadn't been impressed or terrified when they recognized him. They had treated him as a casual drinking partner and potential acquaintance without once reminding him of his small size and apparent 'age'. (Though he would admit the milk thing had thrown him for a few seconds until he realized she planned to drink it herself.)

The entire meeting had felt like a drink between equals, without any expectations or demands. It was...nice. Almost like he was with Colonello debating about guns or Shamal about women when he was still in his true age.

Except not even three months later, Reborn saw Black Cat again. And it made him frown because there was something slightly off about her that took him several minutes to figure out.

Apparently the girl had a cold, but was still coherent enough to fight when she stumbled upon his student's big breakthrough as a mafia boss.

Her aim was just a bit off, but it was enough that she was able to at least hit what she intended.

"Hey, are you alright?" asked Dino.

Black Cat swayed a bit, looking at him blearily. Reborn easily managed to get a better look at her eyes, before he cursed.

"I think Black Cat has the flu. They're certainly feverish enough and it is the season for it," said Reborn. She was definitely running a bit of a temperature.

"Wait, _this_ is Black Cat?" said Dino gawking, before the hit woman nearly passed out. Why she wasn't in bed was a mystery, because she was clearly having trouble just staying upright. He quickly caught her and his expression when he registered her gender was rather amusing, but overall not important. "Romario, can you get the car?"

Romario didn't ask questions...they were already going to have to clean up after this particular mess.

"Is it safe?" asked Dino.

"From what I've heard of Black Cat, they won't be inclined to kill you in your sleep. Besides, they clearly need the bed rest and are too stubborn to stay put," said Reborn.

Which wasn't entirely true, but the limited information he had on the hit woman said that she wasn't the sort to stab someone who helped her out in the back.

* * *

 _Three days later..._

Reborn was present along with Shamal who was about to check the girl's temperature when they notice her beginning to stir. She tried to burrow into the pillow before she heard Shamal's voice and nearly jolted up.

Her eyes, now that he got a good look at them, were rather cat-like and were a distinct shade of amber that looked _very_ familiar. Little wonder she took the name "Black Cat", because with that choker and bell combination and those eyes she could be mistaken for one in low lighting.

"Where am I?" she asked somewhat hoarsely. She coughed a bit and quietly accepted the glass of water.

"The Cavallone guest house," said Reborn simply. It was within the limits of the mansion security, but separate enough that the odds of her making it into the main house without being spotted were very low.

"What?" she said in shock.

"You passed out from the flu, and Dino had you brought here," said Reborn. "Were you aware that the Petra famiglia were raiding your...apartment...when we arrived?"

She rolled her eyes in annoyance.

"I heard they were planning to make a move on me, hence why I was out of bed in the first place. Stumbling into that shootout was not what I intended."

"You've been out cold for the past three days, and you're underweight to boot," said Shamal.

"Kinda hard to buy groceries when I don't take many hits and have to pay rent," she snarked.

Reborn frowned at that. With her skills she should easily be able to afford decent places and groceries. She took one glance at the look on his face and snorted.

"Just because I'm a decent hit man doesn't mean I _enjoy_ it. I might be a stray cat but I do prefer to stick to one place and work from there. The problem is I draw too much attention so half the time I'm dodging idiots trying to drag me into their famiglia to the point I have to move to get any peace," she said tiredly. "It's simply easier to eat cheap meals on the go than actually cook."

Reborn could sympathize with that. He could remember all too well the annoyance that was being a freelance hit man just making a name for himself, having to dodge multiple attempts to draw him into a famiglia. First because of his skills, and then because he was the strongest Sun.

"Well you should be able to get up and leave within a few days, maybe three," said Shamal. "Or within the next two, if you plan to be stubborn about it."

Dino knocked, even though it was his house.

"You're awake! You had a really high fever when you collapsed!" he said with relief...before promptly tripping on nothing.

"I see the rumor of the Cavallone boss being extra clumsy without his men is true," she said dryly.

Dino winced. That was not how he wanted this first impression to go.

"Then again I was extra clumsy when I was a bit younger, so don't feel bad."

That did make him feel slightly better.

"So... Black Cat is a girl?"

"Do you have _any_ idea how annoying it is trying to make a name for yourself as a hit man when you're a guy? It's ten times worse when people know you're a female. Everyone expects you to suddenly act like a cat in heat around powerful Skies and they get extra annoying about it, or to go the whole floozy route when it comes to doing jobs," said Hotaru in open annoyance.

There was a reason she idolized Daniela Vongola and it had nothing to do with the fact she was a Sky. She would kill to get an autograph from the woman.

"So...how old are you?" asked Dino. He was really curious about her, because she was becoming very well known in a short amount of time. It wasn't just her skills...that would have made her interesting but not noteworthy.

No, most of it had everything to do with the fact that almost no one knew a thing about her. The mystery behind her true identity and who she actually was got most of the bigger names interested, especially since no one had a clue what her flame type was. The big money was on Cloud, since she was clearly a 'stray cat', but if that was the case then the real question was what her territory was. She didn't really exhibit the more violent cloud behavior patterns, but she definitely wasn't an inverted one like the Cloud Arcobaleno Skull.

She was tricky, but she didn't use any of the familiar 'mind games' of a Mist and outside of her gun always being present, no one could pin a single instance of her ever using illusions.

Some speculated she was a Sun (mostly due to the rumor she might be related to Renato Sinclair or possibly Reborn himself), but she was far more discreet than Reborn had ever been and didn't really draw attention to herself.

"There is one thing I don't get though...why do you have a seal on your Flames?" asked Shamal.

Hotaru turned to look at him oddly.

"My Flames?" she repeated incredulous. "I didn't even know I _had_ any."

"A seal?" repeated Reborn, sitting up.

"It's old...she would have been about five, maybe six at the least. And it's starting to fall apart...it almost feels like Swiss cheese to be honest," said Shamal.

Something was eroding the seal at a fast rate, and it felt strangely cold.

Reborn looked at Hotaru oddly.

"How old are you?" he asked.

Hotaru did a bit of mental math in her head...it wasn't like she bothered to keep track of her birthday since she didn't have anyone to celebrate it with.

"Almost seventeen, I think," she said. "It's been a while since I bothered to remember how old I am."

Mostly because mentally she felt much, much older. She had over fifty years of extra memories to work with, after all.

"Do you remember anything?" asked Shamal. From what he could tell, the girl had _active_ Flames when that seal was applied and there was no telling what sort of damage that could do to her. It was a miracle she was this well adjusted.

Then again kids were pretty resilient.

"I remember the moron who calls himself my father showing up with an old man who insisted I call him 'grandpa', then blacking out shortly before they were due to leave and feeling really cold and sluggish. He had a rather fancy ring on his finger and the idiot acted more like a subordinate than anything. Pretty sure that the old man was his boss, or close to it," she said after a moment, before looking at Shamal. "Is there anyway to remove it?"

"From what I can tell it was applied by a Sky, and not a very experienced one. The seal itself was half assed and is barely keeping your Flames behind it...it doesn't help that whatever you've been using has been eroding it at an accelerated rate...it might collapse on it's own in a year or two, possibly more," said Shamal.

Hotaru thought about that, and quickly figured out what was making the seal erode.

She was already involved in the mafia, but did she really want to add Flames into that?

...Nah, not really. Not unless she had to anyway. As it stood now she still had a chance to go civilian since so few knew anything about her. If she were Active then she'd have a much harder time adjusting back to 'normal' life.

Hearing her stomach rumble (it had been four days since she had been able to hold down anything solid), she blushed.

Reborn seemed more than mildly amused at the way Dino was interacting with the hit woman. From the way she reacted it was clear no one had bothered to properly flirt with her before. Then again very few people were even aware of her gender.

Which was why Reborn didn't chastise Dino when he openly considered asking the mysterious hit woman as his temporary date to the upcoming Vongola ball. It was a relative boring affair, not really worth noting save for the fact that the Ottavo would be present along with the current boss.

Black Cat seemed interested (she was a fan girl of the Eighth Vongola boss, surprisingly enough), but she was adamantly _against_ putting on a dress.

"Can I at least have a name to call you?" asked Dino. He could live with his date wearing a suit...she was boyish enough to pass as a guy.

"...Hotaru. My real name is Hotaru," she said, having great trouble looking him in the eye. Stupid hormones.

Dino brightened at that.

"Your real name is 'firefly'?" asked Reborn amused.

"I'm half Japanese and I spent most of my first eight years living in Japan," she deadpanned.

* * *

Daniela was looking forward to the upcoming ball. Mostly because her Intuition had been going off like crazy lately that something chaotic...but in a good way... was going to happen then.

She could only hope she got to enjoy it when it did.

* * *

Hotaru was annoyed, there was no other word for it. At least it was a kimono and not some ridiculous outfit that showed more skin than cloth.

"I don't know how you got me into this thing, but if anyone recognizes me I _will_ may you suffer," she growled.

Dino laughed nervously.

"I had nothing to do with picking the outfit out... Reborn insisted he handle it," he admitted.

Hotaru glared at him.

"Just for that I'm going to dangle my family name over your head while you drive yourself nuts trying to figure out which famiglia I might be part of," she said annoyed.

"Is that a challenge brat?"

"I'd like to see your expression when you find out what my father does for a living, old man," she countered.

It was almost like having Sven back. Almost.

Dino watched with morbid fascination as Hotaru and Reborn bickered with good nature. She might be uncomfortable wearing a kimono, but she seemed to calm down around Reborn. Which was rather strange, because he put most people on guard. Even stranger was the fact that Reborn seemed to be openly enjoying himself and was actually _relaxing_ around her.

He had to admit, it was really nice being around Hotaru. She was a bit snarky, but she was _very_ cute when she smiled.

"Any idea where the bathroom is around here?"

"Down that hallway, and take a left at the second door," said Dino, pointing it out.

"Thanks."

Hotaru wasn't really enjoying this party. It was boring and she had to deal with way too many interested parties around her.

Besides, she was avoiding Vongola Nono like the plague the second she recognized who he was. The last thing she needed was for that senile old man to make the connection between the girl he sealed and the mysterious hit man known as Black Cat. She liked her freedom too much.

It took her a few seconds to register bumping into someone, but when she did she nearly went into total fangirl mode.

It was Daniela Vongola, the Eighth Vongola boss!

Daniela smiled at her, clearly not that bothered about the minor mishap.

"Sorry about that. I wasn't expecting anyone to be using this particular bathroom when the party is in full swing."

"Not much of a party," commented Hotaru. "I've seen college dorms have more fun than this place."

Daniela grinned.

"I agree. My son's taste are far too boring. So who did you come with?"

"Dino Cavallone. I'm his plus one, though I will be getting Reborn for choosing the outfit. I normally don't wear anything like this."

"Too Asian?" she guessed.

"Too feminine. I hide my gender for a reason, and most of it is to avoid the ridiculous stereotypes that female hit men have to deal with," Hotaru corrected. Seeing Daniela's interest, she grinned. "I'm Black Cat."

"Not that delightfully mysterious hit man who always delivers the line 'I've come to deliver some bad luck' to their targets!" said Daniela with surprise.

"Well every time a girl says they're a hit man people automatically expect them to be a fem fatale or to use their gender to get their targets into bed. Having a small bust makes it easier to hide as a boy and get recognition without seeming cheap."

Daniela's eyes gleamed.

"I know exactly what you mean. It was such a pain getting taken seriously when I became the Eighth, and even then it took going through a massive war _and_ holding the family together before anyone realized I wasn't just a pretty face!"

Seeing the younger girl's interest, Daniela cheerfully kidnapped Hotaru to tell her all about being the Vongola Donna during WWII.

 _With Dino..._

"Have you seen my date?" he asked. She was taking some time in the bathroom.

Reborn snorted.

"She was kidnapped by Daniela," he replied with amusement, pointing her out.

Sure enough Hotaru was chatting amicably with the former Vongola boss, who was looking rather lively.

Reborn snorted. It looks like the Black Cat had made a new best friend.


	3. Chapter 3

"Hwa...what's going on?"

And why didn't her sixth sense warn her about being openly kidnapped today?

Sensing the familiar aura of Daniela, Hotaru had to blink a bit at her wide grin.

"So... you're kidnapping me?"

"I'm retired and bored, and you were the most fun at the party last time."

Hotaru blinked, before a wide grin came across her face.

"So kidnapping in the name of boredom and chaos? Count me in."

Daniela cackled with delight. She knew this girl was a lot more fun than she originally let on.

The two of them clicked in a rather terrifying way. Hotaru had absolutely no issue with being kidnapped in the name of boredom, and Daniela was happy to have another conspirator for her chaos.

It was the talk of mafia politics. The former Vongola Donna had partially harmonized with the aloof freelance hit man Black Cat. Why else would the stray cat allow the woman to regularly 'kidnap' them in the name of hijinks that had most sensible mafia running the other direction at the sheer level of chaos?

Timoteo was happy for his mother...all while cringing at filing out the paperwork.

Then came the day Daniela found out Hotaru (she had reluctantly trusted the older woman with an actual name) had a Flame Seal on her from when she went active as a child, but no memory of the color.

Partly out of curiosity to see if they actually would harmonize, but mostly because she _recognized_ the signature of the Flame holding the girl's back, Daniela broke it.

Only to be very glad she was sitting down, because that was the single most powerful outpouring of _Sky_ she had ever felt, and it was tinged with the distinct feeling of 'ice'...as if the girl had instinctively protected her Flames from being harmed by making a shell created through the Zero Point Breakthrough.

Daniela stared, gaping at the younger girl who had been knocked out cold by the seal's release.

Not being a fool, she ordered a blood test done to find out why the hell her idiot son had sealed a _Sky_ this strong.

* * *

Hotaru woke up a day and a half later, feeling freer than she could ever remember and seeing a rather _odd_ look on Daniela's face.

"You're Iemitsu's daughter."

"I don't like to be reminded of that fact, thank you very much," she replied dryly.

"How?" asked Daniela.

"My mother has depression and has deliberately decided to hide behind a fantasy world. I'm not stupid enough to stick around when she was putting a rather strong emphasis on my twin brother because he looks so much like our genetic donor and risk the chance she would use me as a scapegoat. I had a gun and knew damn well how to use it, so I left. As far as I know, the idiot never really bothered to care that his 'happy little family' was fractured," said Hotaru bluntly. "I'm perfectly content to be a stray cat... it means I don't have to deal with any expectations from his narcissistic ideals."

Daniela could already confirm most of her story...she had her Mist go straight to Japan to where she knew Iemitsu had left his civilian family and confirmed that he had _twins_. The boy was doing well and thriving in a civilian setting, though he was firmly a Latent and the mother was oblivious but doting.

Now if she were younger she would have adopted Hotaru directly...however she was well aware that her time was dwindling quickly.

"I'm old and my time is almost up. And I can see you're thriving as a stray more than you would have the viper's den that is the upper echelon of mafia politics. However there's no way I can in good conscience leave a young Sky as strong as you wander around without _some_ training. Which is why I'm offering you a deal. I'll take you in as my 'Cloud' guardian until I croak and train you how to use them effectively until people figure out what your real Flame type is...though I have little doubt you have a Cloud Secondary anyway. That would allow me to write you in the will so you can have an actual home and keep the worst of the idiots off while staying a stray cat until you're ready to settle down," said Daniela.

Hotaru wasn't an idiot...this was likely the best deal she was likely to get in some time, even if it meant having to stay around Daniela until her inevitable death.

Besides she adored the older woman and this was the only way she'd be allowed in to the funeral when it happened. Timoteo wasn't likely to let a freelancer in otherwise, no matter how close they were.

"I don't have to dress up like a girl, do I?"

Daniela grinned at her.

"I won't do anything too girly, but it would be fun to see everyone's expressions finding out you're actually a female. Besides, I can't wait to see my son's reaction to the fact I took you in."

Timoteo had a decidedly pained look on his face when he found out that his mother had 'adopted' the stray cat as her new Guardian, however temporary it was.

The fact Hotaru actually _did_ have a Cloud secondary meant it was easier to hide what her actual primary was.

Though she would openly admit to cackling at the minor heart attack she gave Daniela when she tried on the Vongola Sky ring as a lark...and accidentally summoned the _Primo_ of all things. And it wasn't just limited to him...with a little effort Hotaru summoned the ENTIRE first generation, including a very startled Daemon Spade who was promptly tackled by an irate Giotto and received a rather spectacular black eye for something he did a long time ago. Or was still doing, if she heard him correctly.

She wasn't entirely sure how to break it to Daniela that she now had a discreet stalker in the form of the first/second Mist Guardian...who was apparently able to stick around through sheer stubbornness. So long as she wasn't required to clean up after him she would happily turn a blind eye.

Though really, who could have expected her to bond with Daemon Spade over losing their respective girlfriends and going slightly off the deep end?

Daemon clearly realized she was a reincarnation of someone else (not Giotto), and when she asked him why he went and kicked Giotto out of his spot, she could only sympathize. It had taken Saya's presence to keep her from brutally murdering Creed, after all. And she had never really 'clicked' with anyone since... something that he could relate to because despite a few flings (while possessing someone else) he had never really found anyone who could match him like Elena had.

* * *

"Fancy seeing you here," said Dino cheerfully.

"Not really. Daniela is nothing if not convincing, and at least she lets me keep _some_ of my dignity," said Hotaru.

She had to admit, the reaction of the mafioso upon learning "Black Cat" was actually a woman who didn't want to deal with people assuming she slept with her targets to kill them was pretty damn funny.

"Ciaossu. So you were really a Cloud?" asked Reborn.

Hotaru smirked.

"Actually it's my secondary," she said amused. "I will say Daniela is very pissed off at her son at the moment for his stupidity."

That would explain the looks she kept giving Timoteo. It took Reborn a few seconds to register what he was sensing from the close proximity to the odd stray cat was before he turned to give her a shocked look.

"No."

Her smirk widened.

"I did say Cloud was my secondary."

"So you're really..."

"Apprentice, at least until she croaks," said Hotaru. "Can you imagine the riot it would cause when people find out what my primary is, and that I've been acting as a freelancer?"

Reborn could easily see it. A _Sky_ wandering around like a stray cat acting as a freelance hit man, under a seal no less, hiding in plain sight!

The chaos that revelation would cause would be glorious, especially since people were already in such a tizzy over the knowledge "Black Cat" was actually a woman. A young woman who had yet to hit the legal age among civilians, but still considered an adult purely because of the blood on her hands.

Now that she wasn't hiding her gender, it was pretty damn clear she was quite the looker. He could already see Dino's interest growing in her...she was one of the few females who had taken his clumsiness in stride and found it more amusing than annoying.

Well, he wasn't above nudging his normally idiotic student towards the stray kitten who kept proving more interesting the more hidden aspects she revealed.

Daniela not only approved of the idea of nudging Hotaru towards Dino, she was actively conspiring with Romario and Reborn to see if anything would develop between them.

Not only was Dino a good match, he was also a good man. Just a bit clumsy.

Besides, if two Skies paired off it raised the possibility of their child having Sky flames exponentially, or at least being predisposed to it as a secondary.

* * *

"Is it just me or are the two old fogies trying to pair us up?" asked Hotaru over gelato.

"It's not you, and if Reborn or Daniela hear you call them that we're both going to be in for it," said Dino amused.

"Reborn is older than Daniela, mentally at least. And I know you can hear me you old fossil, because you didn't even catch the Pokémon reference I made towards that partner of yours!" Hotaru called out a few feet down from where they were. "She at least caught the joke!"

Reborn scowled at her, while inwardly impressed that she had known he was there to begin with.

"What Pokémon reference?" asked Dino confused.

"I called Leon a Ditto with a penchant for lizard form, and he didn't get the joke," said Hotaru flatly.

Dino snorted, before laughing.

"If Leon is Ditto then Enzo has to be a Squirtle with a weird Ability!" he laughed.

"That or that fossil turtle, but Squirtle does sound like a good fit," said Hotaru grinning wickedly. "Then again you often remind me of a gangly Ponyta."

Dino snickered.

"If I'm Ponyta then what does that make you?"

Hotaru had to think about that for a moment.

"I would say Combuskin, though I'm quickly advancing towards Blaziken. The current lot of 'cat-theme' ones simply don't suit me, but Blaziken is a total bad ass. Though Victini would be a close second."

"I can see it, though Umbreon might work too," he admitted. "What does that make Reborn?"

"Absol, definitely."

"The disaster Pokémon?" said Dino amused.

"Well he's certainly not Kecleon."

"What about Daniela?"

"I want to say Honchcrow, if only because she's a badass who proved girls can be just as effective when it comes to leading a famiglia through trying times as a boy can."

Dino was getting into this now, it was far too amusing.

"Lal Mirch."

"Houndoom," said Hotaru immediately. "Also, totally a tsundere, from what I heard."

"Colonello."

"Blastiose or Braviary."

"Fon."

"Charizard, either regular or Mega form."

"Skull?"

"Gengar, again regular or mega."

"Mammon."

"Mismagius."

"Verde."

"Alakazam."

Dino was having a blast, because if he thought about it he could totally see the comparison. Best of all was the total confusion on Reborn's face. He was not happy that he couldn't get even half of what they were talking about.

"So do you like music or opera?"

Hotaru averted her eyes at that. She had a bit of a shifty look on her face.

"I made the mistake of watching _Les Miserables_ and ended up doing a recreation of the revolution Giotto pulled when he started the Vongola with Daniela flirting with G rather heavily. I didn't know ghosts could blush that hard, and the others were laughing their ass off at the whole thing!"

Dino blinked.

"What?" he said confused.

"Long story short, I apparently have the ability to pull out _any_ generation of Vongola dons or their Guardians from the Vongola rings? The first generation tends to show up the most, but we're rather confused how exactly I'm doing it in the first place."

Namely because she was only related to the first generation don, not the rest. The only thing she could think of to explain what was going on was that the others liked her for some reason, and were more than happy to impart their own bits of advice.

As a result Daemon was going to hide the fact that the 'rings' that the Vongola reclaimed once Daniela died were copies. After all, it was unlikely Timoteo was going to start using his _mother's_ rings instead of the copies he wore now, so that gave them a bit of leeway before the deception was found out.

Besides, the ones Daniela had were the _original_ Vongola rings that belonged to Giotto before Ricardo was forced to have another set made since the Primo's didn't work quite right when he needed them to. They were technically Hotaru's birthright, and this meant she would have to hunt down her own Sky ring later.

"So... you're a Vongola by blood then?" asked Dino.

"Why did you think Daniela took me in as her apprentice, not just as her Cloud guardian? She's been teaching me how to use my Flames when we're not up to mischief. Coincidentally she about ruptured a lung from laughing her ass off when I channeled my Flames into Hades."

That sounded mildly worrying.

"Why?" asked Reborn, interrupting.

"Something about how I'd get along perfectly with her favorite grandson, 'who her idiot son had better release soon or she was so going to haunt his ass when she croaked'. I think she plans to write in a loophole in her last will and wishes so that I have some leeway to insure her grandson Xanxus actually gets to attend the funeral _and_ piss off her son because there's nothing he can legally do without getting into a lot of hot water with the Alliance because he screwed up."

Seeing their intense interest, she shrugged.

"From what Daniela implied, her big scheme involves claiming it's an internal matter with the Vongola as well as sharing some rather incriminating documents about my heritage to the Alliance before letting it slip that the Ninth was responsible for the seal. Of course it means I'll have to demonstrate I'm not just some stray cat that the old geezer can simply brush aside or punish idly, never mind the fact we're only distantly related and I have never claimed the Vongola name. Hopefully that should keep the Vindice from coming down on my ass later."

Daniela wanted Hotaru to break into the Iron Fort, locate and free Xanxus, then deliver the fact that she was acting on her "Sky's" last request before she died to insure the Wrath made it to the funeral, since she had genuine doubts her son would even bother to release the boy from the ice. She suspected the old fool had forgotten about Xanxus entirely until he needed to use him.

The entire Cradle Affair was his own damn fault, for leading Xanxus on and not explaining it to him clearly that he was adopted!

It was as she was walking back to meet up with Daniela's Storm that she heard a sound, and followed it to find a tiny kitten abandoned in a box. It was _barely_ old enough to be away from it's mother, and her heartstrings tugged just looking at it.

She had absolutely no shame in bundling the kitten up and putting it in her pocket...even if Daniela busted her not three hours later for pilfering some food for it.

Hotaru now had a new furry friend that she named Dani, because something about the kitten reminded her a lot of Daniela's impish spirit.


	4. Chapter 4

Dani was a total terror to some, but a total sweet heart to those she liked. In short, a kitty version of a younger Daniela Vongola.

That the two got along far too well was an understatement. Hotaru didn't think she'd ever forget the sound of Daniela's cackling at her new furry co-conspirator attack on Timoteo's paperwork. She had it recorded and shared copies of it with an openly amused Reborn. And Squalo, for some reason.

He hated that cat though...Dani seemed to make it her personal mission to attack that overly long hair of his, much to his annoyance and his coworkers open amusement. He couldn't even kill the damn thing, because Daniela always had this glint in her eyes that spoke of awful, terrifying things of how she would remind him in a rather...permanent...way why she was the _only_ female don of the Vongola, who had one of the bloodiest histories during a freaking World War if he even thought of hurting the hell cat.

And damn Belphegor for howling every time she visited with the stupid furball, who treated the attention the fake prince gave it as it's due!

At least Daniela's apprentice/Cloud was tolerable. She almost reminded him of a less angry female Xanxus, except without the feathers and coon tail.

He just hoped that asshole who claimed to be the Boss' father let him out for the funeral. Even Squalo could see that Daniela was perilously close to dying within the next few years, and out of the main house he had always adored his Nonna the most next to his brothers.

Though he did find it hilarious that the woman had apparently been one of the people to set up the Black Cat with _Dino_ of all people.

"How is Daniela doing?" asked Reborn.

"She's holding on. Mostly. But I have doubts that she'll last past Christmas at this rate," said Hotaru. It was clear that the idea of the old woman dying affected her deeply.

However what Hotaru didn't mention was that Daniela fully planned to pull the rug out from under her son. Timoteo's actions not only pissed her off as a grandmother, but also as a former Don of the very family he was in charge of.

There was also the fact that after Massimo's recent death, she suspected that she might lose all her grandsons due to Iemitsu and Timoteo's incompetence.

Which was why she was going to pull one last trick as Vongola Ottava...and select her _own_ heir to the throne. The laws of the family said that the heir had to be bloodline, but it didn't specify that the one nominating them had to be a _current_ Don.

Hotaru would abuse the ring's ability to call upon the previous dons of the Vongola to learn everything she could about the family's internal structure and laws, while quietly gathering Guardians to challenge the heir to a Ring Battle.

Just as Daniela's cousins once challenged her, she was going to make a bid of her own just to piss off the Ninth generation and pull the rug out from under everyone. No one would see her coming...they all thought she was just a Cloud.

It was subtle and the only reason she was even going along with such a headache was to give Iemitsu and Timoteo a slap in the face for sealing her Flames as a child, and never caring enough to at least look for her.

Besides, the sheer chaos it would cause was going to be so much fun.

As the days passed from summer into fall, Daniela's condition grew steadily worse. She would be lucky to last past New Years.

Which was why she planned to be theatrical as hell and get her grandson back from her foolish son's prison.

* * *

Hotaru made damn sure that Daniela's words were being recorded, both audio and video to make it clear this was not her idea, but the Ottavo Vongola's plan. It wasn't like the Ninth could do anything when his mother was going to die soon anyway, and very few would fault a Guardian for following their Sky's dying wish.

"Hotaru, I want you to break into the Iron Fort and free Xanxus. I refuse to allow my foolish son to keep him from the funeral, and I would like to spend one last Christmas with my favorite grandchild."

"Is that an order?" asked Hotaru.

"More like a last request. As your Sky and mentor, I would see this done before I join my ancestors."

Hotaru bowed her head.

"One more thing... my son is likely to take my last request ill, so if anyone gets in your way, you have my permission to be as lethal as necessary," said Daniela after a moment. "Do try to be lenient to the poor boy's Guardians though."

"Am I allowed to kidnap Lussuria? Xanxus might respond better to his own Sun, as opposed to someone else."

"Of course! The more chaos the merrier!" said Daniela with enthusiasm.

"I'll start preparations then," said Hotaru, a glint of impishness in her eyes. "Halloween good for you?"

"I demand cat ears!" cackled Daniela.

"Of course, why else would I do it on Halloween if not to dress up for the sheer chaos I'm about to inflict with permission?" cackled Hotaru.

It was official. Daniela had rubbed off on her in all the best ways.

* * *

 _Halloween_

Reborn, having a finely tuned sense of impending chaos, was eagerly waiting on the unofficial Mafia News Network, which kept the lesser mafioso up to date if they knew about it. It was run by a Vindice-enforced neutral party, which meant that the news could be relatively trusted for an underworld network without too much bias towards one family or another.

Considering his intent, most of the Cavallone were eagerly listening in as well.

Which was why they caught the first broadcast of a very loud and obvious attack on the Vongola's main house. Someone was openly attacking the Iron Fort again, less than five years after Xanxus did.

And the perpetrator was Dino's girlfriend Hotaru. This was either going to be hilariously chaotic for everyone, or go really, really badly.

 _With Hotaru_

Breaking in was ridiculously easy. They were beyond arrogant and didn't even have more than the most basic of security.

It took them a good twenty minutes before the alarms finally went up that this was an attack, and another fifteen before they figured out it was the cat-eared Hotaru who was responsible.

Honestly, it had only taken her ten minutes to find Xanxus and thirteen to start the process of thawing him out. By the time the first idiots came to stop her, Xanxus was half out of the ice and still unconscious.

And the escape...if she wasn't hampered by carrying the Wrath on her back, she could have made it out in half an hour.

Angel Superbi, Daniela's Storm, looked openly disgusted at the fact that it had taken less than three hours with an open assault to retrieve the Varia boss from the main house. _With_ the Vongola don present in the building.

Lussuria was only mildly amused at the fact that Hotaru then proceeded to break into the Varia HQ to kidnap them. Even if they did have a minor headache from how quickly the girl knocked them out.

* * *

To say Timoteo was unhappy was as vast an understatement as saying the "Sahara is hot during the day".

He was outright pissed.

His mother's young Cloud had broken in, somehow managed to undo the Zero Point Breakthrough around Xanxus, and then _leave_ without taking even a minor injury. As if _that_ wasn't bad enough, his mother had outmaneuvered him by sending a video to the MNN to be aired the _second_ Xanxus was confirmed in her custody explaining who was behind the entire fiasco and why.

He was not oblivious to the fact his mother was fading and wouldn't last long. And this was the sort of thing she would pull just to tweak at his nose. She had never approved of how he handled Xanxus and his "tantrum at finding out the truth".

He had thought they upgraded security after the Cradle Affair. He was clearly mistaken, as Black Cat had waltzed right in wearing cat ears and a _tail_ of all things, did a large amount of cosmetic damage while walking right out with Xanxus on her back.

The worst part was that he couldn't really punish Black Cat for the incident without slapping himself in the face. She was Daniela's Guardian and she could have done far worse... the fact she was following her Sky's orders meant that the most he could do was reprimand his own mother for her stunt, which was rather pointless since it was clearly her last request.

Which meant he had to put up with it as one last insane act of his mother. Of course she would delight in making his life difficult even as she was dying.

There was also the rumor that the Black Cat was Vongola as well, by blood no less. But he had never gotten any confirmation about that, and besides she was just a Cloud. She would be lucky to get a mere pittance if it was true once his mother died.

* * *

Xanxus woke up slowly, but when he did he was very pissed off.

That lying fucker... he should have expected the bastard to have one last trick up his sleeve when he confronted him!

"I know you're up grandson," said a familiar voice. "We didn't cause all that chaos and kidnap your Sun just for you to play dead now."

Xanxus cracked open a single blood red eye.

"Nonna?"

Daniela looked tired. But there was still some vitality left in her.

Daniela beamed at him.

"Boss, you're awake!" said Lussuria pleased.

"What happened?"

"I brought Vongola Nono some bad luck and caused chaos in a way he couldn't retaliate in any meaningful way despite the way I basically trashed his security," said an unfamiliar voice.

It was a girl with chin-length black hair that was likely dyed if her roots were any indication. She had a calm confidence about her and eyes that spoke of the fact she was blooded. There was a gun holster on her right leg, within easy reach of her hand. She wore a black trench coat that went down to slightly past her knees, and comfortable shoes for running. He could see his grandmother's influence on the rest of her outfit, because it bordered androgynous while still retaining some femininity. If not for the lack of Adam's apple and the soft features, she could easily be mistaken for a man. Her eyes were positively cat-like and were a distinct shade of amber.

On her shoulder was a half-grown kitten with a collar that proudly declared the cat's name as "Dani" and it wore a matching bell to the one the girl wore around her own throat.

"Who's this?"

"Officially I'm Daniela's Cloud Guardian. Unofficially I'm her candidate for Vongola Decima in order to royally piss off her son one last time."

Xanxus' eyes sharpened at that.

Daniela lightly bopped him on the head.

"Enough Xanxus. I don't know why my idiot son never told you the truth about your heritage, but even if you _had_ succeeded there's no way you would have been able to take on the rings. They're bloodlocked to the Vongola line specifically and we never did confirm if you were from the Secundo's line or simply had the same variant Flame type he did. We had to get a second set made just for Ricardo to properly claim the title since the original ones he took from Giotto were...finicky...when he attempted to use them," said Daniela flatly.

Xanxus blinked...this was news he hadn't been aware of.

"Even if you _had_ gotten your hands on the rings, the second they rejected you no one would have accepted your claim. However no one can take the title of Varia Boss from you since you took it all those years ago," said Daniela gently.

"Why? Why could he had told me this from the beginning? Why did he lead me on as his _son_ and make it like I could have inherited like my brothers?!" demanded Xanxus.

"I don't know why Timoteo never explained the full truth to you. I was very unhappy that he used that technique on you in the first place, since I know for a fact he was never good at seals. Just look at the half-assed job he did on the little kitten!"

"Kitten?"

"She means Black Cat over here," said Lussuria. The mystery girl nodded to him in silence.

"Black Cat, really?"

"You got a problem with my name?"

"Bit cheesy."

She openly rolled her eyes at him.

"It might be cheesy, but at least it's easy enough to remember and translate to multiple languages," she shot back.

"How did you get me out? I remember sensing the ice retreating way too fast to be normal."

Daniela actually growled a little at that.

"You weren't the first one that fool sealed."

Xanxus looked at her, before his eyes narrowed on the girl with a great deal of intensity. With a roll of her eyes, Black Cat conjured a ball of orange and deep violet fire. His eyes widened in shock...especially when the fire swiftly turned into several 'claws' that were made of the same ice he was trapped in.

"Iemitsu asked Timoteo to put a seal on me shortly after I turned five when I went active during their visit. Woke up with a migraine and realized I could conjure ice after a week. It wasn't until Daniela removed it that I could use my Flames properly again. On the plus side I've never run out of bullets because of it, though Reborn refuses to tell me how he does that Chaos Shot of his," she said scowling.

"Why would Iemitsu ask for you to be sealed?" asked Xanxus confused.

"I'm his daughter, not that he remembers he has one considering he never even tried to look for me when I left home before I was eight. He goes on and on about my brother, but my family has apparently forgotten I even existed," she explained.

Which meant she was bloodline Vongola through Giotto's line.

"Do they even know?" asked Xanxus, already feeling a hint of vindictive payback rising in him.

"They only know me as the stray Daniela took in...they have no idea we're planning to completely usurp Federico as heir just to piss off the Ninth generation and clean up the mess Timoteo has made of the family. I might be Giotto's descendant, but I plan to be the second coming of Daniela," said Hotaru, eyes glinting wickedly. "And my first act would be to fire Iemitsu and send Nono on a long vacation as far away from me as possible. I don't exactly _need_ the Ninth generation's input to get through this."

Xanxus was openly grinning. Screwing over his 'father' and that ass Iemitsu sounded hilarious, and Daniela had been a very effective Donna for the family. If this brat was planning to follow in her footsteps, he might be able to tolerate her at the helm.

"How did you pull off removing me from the ice and the fort?" he asked.

"Last wish of a dying Sky. We made it clear that Daniela wanted to spend one last Christmas before she dies with her favorite grandson, since he clearly had no intention of ever releasing you until hell froze over or he had a use for you. Not like anyone would fault a Guardian for fulfilling their Sky's last wish, and if anyone asks it was an internal disagreement between a former don and a current one. Add into the fact she's his mother, and there's little the old idiot can do about it. And he can't put you _back_ into the ice without a damn good reason."

"Earlier you said that you wanted to usurp Federico's spot as heir. What happened to Massimo?"

"Dead. Someone drowned him with a pair of concrete shoes in a harbor, no culprit as of yet," replied Lussuria succinctly. Timoteo's holding off on naming Federico as the heir until they find out whether or not this is a pattern to wipe out his sons or just a freak coincidence that he lost two in the span of less than six years. Odds are he might name him after Daniela passes."


	5. Chapter 5

Christmas was a somber affair, and for once the Vongola didn't throw any extravagant parties for it.

Not just because of Daniela's condition or the fact Xanxus was back and still very pissed off at Timoteo, but also because of the mockery Hotaru had made of the Vongola security.

Hotaru found it very telling that Timoteo carefully avoided looking at her and Xanxus. The Wrath was currently making the most of the time he had left with his beloved grandmother, outside of recovery from being freed and catching up on what he missed.

Since she knew damn well the Ninth wouldn't give her a pot to piss in once his mother died, even if she had been acting as Daniela's Cloud, they worked out last minute contingencies so that she had something to work with until she took over.

The Vongola had a number of buildings and businesses under their control, so Hotaru picked something within the "Varia" territory. Considering the rift between Xanxus and the current don, it was unlikely he'd listen to any demands to kick her out or inconvenience her.

Xanxus was already planning to use a little known and almost forgotten clause in the Varia's by-laws that would allow him to partially remove himself from Vongola control until a new Don could be appointed.

It hadn't been used...yet...but the fact it existed said far too much. The fact it freed him up to back his _own_ candidate for Decimo was just a very nice bonus.

In order to test how good Daemon's illusions were, even using a possessed body, Hotaru was wearing the original Vongola Sky Ring on top of the Cloud one she already had on.

Not only did he show no sign of noticing she had it on under her shirt on a necklace, he didn't even register the few minor illusions Daemon cast to prove a point.

Daniela felt some peace knowing Hotaru cared enough about her grandson to be there when she died... Xanxus needed _someone_ who wouldn't give a shit about Vongola politics that had some idea how to handle an emotionally distraught Sky without attempting to use it against him.

As much as she adored the sheer headaches her grandson's Elements gave Timoteo, none of them were very well equipped to deal with emotional issues well. Not to the point Xanxus felt he could truly let his guard down around them.

(Xanxus had been genuinely shocked, then pleased when he found out that Hotaru had a similar penchant for using her gun to channel her flames on top of the surprising knack for hand to hand that she had. She still preferred Hades to getting up close and personal though. The first time she used what she called a railgun Xanxus had a boner from the amount of damage it caused...before promptly trying to recreate it.)

Though Hotaru took advantage of the limited time she had remaining as Daniela's Cloud to give Dino one last surprise before they would have to break it off. The last thing she wanted was to make Dino's life a great deal harder because of her dispute with Timoteo.

Dino had been both very surprised and somewhat relieved. At least they had a few nights together before they were forced to break it off under amicable terms.

* * *

Hotaru didn't even try to hold back her tears as she and Xanxus stayed by Daniela's side the night she slipped into her final slumber. Hotaru went to Xanxus' side and held him tightly as he just cried.

No one else was there save for Daniela's Storm and Rain, and they weren't going to say a thing about his breakdown. They waited an hour, once Shamal confirmed she had passed and there was nothing to be done to revive her, even if they wanted to.

By midnight news had spread that the Eighth Vongola boss had died, and funeral preparations were put into motion as per her last orders, as they had merely waited for her passing. It was all very neat and tidy, and gave everyone plenty of time to make it to the ceremony.

Hotaru felt nothing but disgust at the fact Iemitsu never even bothered to show up, or that Timoteo developed a bit of an attitude against her.

"I hope you are aware that you will have to relinquish the ring my mother gave you as her Cloud," he informed her curtly.

Hotaru glared at him.

"I've already handed it over, the same as her Storm and Rain the night she passed. Get over your own damn ego for once and show some respect for your mother," she growled. "And if you don't get your Guardians to reign in their attitude, I'll make them. It's bad enough Daniela had to make it a last wish just so Xanxus could attend the funeral, since you wouldn't even let him attend Massimo's."

The fact she hadn't bothered to lower her volume meant that quite a few people heard everything.

Timoteo wasn't a fool and he could see that while the other dons _might_ follow him out of fear or respect, in reality they completely agreed with the stray cat his mother picked up.

Hotaru brushed past the Ninth rather rudely heading straight for Xanxus. The second she felt Coyote's Flames and Xanxus' growing ire, she reacted accordingly.

She threw Coyote into the ground with a single attack, pinning his arm behind his back.

"This is a funeral. Keep your wretched grandstanding outside and show some damn respect. I don't know what your issue is with Xanxus but you should know better than to flare your Flames," she snarled.

Everyone might chalk it up to the fact that Hotaru was stil reeling from the loss of her Sky, and her Cloud instincts were going on overdrive (which was partially true), but the real reason she did that was something else.

She could tell Timoteo did nothing to reign in his Guardians and gave them far too much leeway when it came to personal power. That Coyote felt he could flare so aggressively towards Xanxus said far too much of the dynamic the Ninth generation had towards the Varia boss.

Xanxus was both shocked and secretly relieved _someone_ was calling those bastards out on their behavior. Especially considering why they were in the church to begin with.

All around them, Hotaru could see the open approval of her reaction to Coyote's flaring towards Xanxus. She stuck close to the Varia boss and growled every time one of the Ninth's Guardians or even Timoteo himself tried to discreetly start something with him.

Xanxus merely waited for the first chance he had before he decided to use the pubic setting to use the by-law Hotaru had found for him.

He glared at Timoteo and made no bones of his anger towards the man and his Guardians as he calmly produced the paperwork that would temporarily remove the Varia from the Vongola's indirect control until they got a new boss.

"What is this?" asked Timoteo evenly.

"A formal announcement that the Varia will only answer to Vongola _Decimo_ , not the Ninth generation."

Timoteo froze, as did everyone within earshot.

"What are you playing at boy?" demanded Coyote.

"Varia by-laws as set by the Secundo," purred Xanxus darkly, enjoying this far too much. "When a Don or Donna dies or a new one is elected, the Varia boss can chose to serve the one that comes after them if there is a legitimate grievance. The Seventh almost had it happen to him."

Timoteo stared at him in disbelief.

"You intend to remove the Varia from Vongola control?"

"No, I'm declaring that I, as the current head of the Varia don't respect you and have deemed it necessary to treat you the same as any other don requesting our services. Means we'll follow whomever becomes Decimo after you, since Nonna explained that it would be impossible for me to inherit," said Xanxus flatly, making it clear he knew about the rings. "Also means I have the right to refuse you or your Guardians entrance into the Varia's main headquarters if I damn well please. Consider this my notice of a restraining order."

Dead silence. No one could believe that Xanxus had found a way to tell his 'father' to get lost and legally to boot. The fact that the Varia would only follow Vongola Decimo and pretty much ignore any "special" requests from the Ninth generation was big.

"You do realize what you're doing, correct?" said Timoteo trying to salvage the mess growing before him.

"Means we'll get as much, or more likely _less_ support than CEDEF from the main family until a new Don is picked," deadpanned Xanxus. "As a bonus it also means we can back our own candidate for Decimo without having to follow with whatever poor bastard you chose to take over."

"Thanks for that, little brother," said Federico.

"Face it Rico, you're not exactly Decimo material and this will force the old bastard to actually throw a broader net for someone who actually _has_ Guardians that are competent."

* * *

Hotaru was coming back from grocery shopping when she spotted him. For a second she had to do a double take because his image overlapped with someone else entirely.

It was a teen about her age, with chin-length silver hair, fair skin and green eyes. He was smoking, not giving a damn about the annoyed looks people shot him. He looked like a delinquent to be honest, not that he seemed to care.

However the longer she stared at him, she didn't see the delinquent.

She saw Sven, her long time Sweeper partner and best friend. There was something about him that made her immediately think of the 'gentleman'.

Hearing the light growl coming from his stomach, she knew he likely hadn't eaten anything in a while. It was a familiar sight that made her resist the urge to grin.

Sven never did have much luck when it came to money.

She walked up to the teen, saw what he was attempting to buy (he was short at least a Euro or two), and calmly said "Can you add a hot coffee to that, as well as a sandwich?"

The teen turned to look at her with a combination of confusion and wariness.

"I don't accept charity," he growled out.

Considering he had all the hallmarks of someone who used home made bombs regularly (she recognized the calluses on his hand as well as the scent...Sven preferred to hand make his own weapons as well) she smirked at him.

"Consider it an excuse to have a civil conversation with someone who could be useful long term. If nothing else you can say you owe me later," she replied.

Something in the way she said that calmed his temper down slightly, at least enough to hear her out.

He ate his food slowly, to let his stomach adjust to being full. However the wariness didn't go away.

"How good at you at plumbing and wiring?"

"Excuse me?"

"I can tell you hand make your own bombs, so I'm curious at how good you would be as at regular plumbing or rewiring," she clarified.

Clearly he realized she was part of the underworld as well, so he relaxed a tiny bit.

"I can muddle through normal plumbing, since I've had to take more than one sink apart to get materials for my bombs when money was tight. As for wiring I'm decent enough though I prefer to avoid the electrical bombs," he replied after a moment. "Why?"

"I've come into possession of an apartment complex in Varia territory, and the assassins I rent out to are more inclined to _break_ things than fix them. Having someone reliable that knows at least something of what they're doing without having to contract to outsiders would be a big help, and you could openly claim to be maintenance to get free rent and utilities. Of course we'd have to do a trial run first to see if you actually can handle it, but that's a minor factor."

"Why me?" he asked, honestly curious. The offer was _highly_ tempting.

"You remind me of someone I knew, someone that I could trust to have my back when I was on a job," she replied honestly.

Because really, she kept seeing a resemblance to Sven to the point it couldn't be a coincidence. If she had been reincarnated, then it stood to reason he could have as well.

Though it that was the case it begged the question of who else had been reborn to new bodies.

The teen finished his food, thought the offer over, before looking her in the eye and holding out his hand.

"Hayato Gokudera."

"Call me Black Cat. If we can work together long term I'll give you my actual name," she replied.

Hayato's eyes bulged.

"Black Cat, as in the one with the highest potential to become the World's Greatest Hit Man? Someone who always tells their targets that they've come to deliver bad luck, and acted as the Eighth Vongola donna's Cloud Guardian shortly before she died?" he said in shock.

Hotaru grinned at him.

"Oh good, you've heard of me," she said amused.

Hayato had to shake his head clear of his shock. Who would have expected he would run into _the_ Black Cat (and why did her name and appearance feel so familiar) while out getting something to eat, much less that she offer him a job?

Either way, he would be a fool to pass this up.

 _A few days later..._

Hayato proved to be both competent and useful. As Hotaru had commented, the Varia assassins that rented out the top floor (giving them access to the roof garden she had installed to cut back on food costs for the entire complex) were more inclined to break things than know how to fix them. And using Mist illusions was only good for 'temporary' measures.

Even if he was a bit of a tsundere (which made her laugh when she found that out), he was a good person. He was just hot headed, brash and more inclined to blow things up rather than think things through rationally.

Honestly, she was still a bit confused why Hayato reminded her so much of Sven. Their personality was almost like night and day, especially regarding girls.

Sven was a gentleman and went to great lengths to maintain that image. Hayato was a "bad boy delinquent" who didn't give a damn about how he looked.

His big dream was to be the right hand of a famiglia, mostly to prove himself since he was actually a bastard.

Hotaru felt absolutely no regret or remorse tossing him to Xanxus during one of the times that the Wrath came to crash on her couch just to be able to let his defenses down. Being able to talk to someone as powerful as the Varia boss did wonders for his attitude.

Even if Xanxus did tend to use him as target practice whenever his behavior got too annoying.


	6. Chapter 6

Hotaru had to blink when she found the familiar form of Reborn crashing on her chair, sleeping away like he owned the place. Rather than wake him up...or ask him why the hell he broke into her place, she put up the groceries and went about starting supper.

Ever since she had gotten this place she had slowly started to make her own meals rather than buy the premade kinds that just needed to be heated up. She had gained a few pounds and the food quality was much higher as well.

Reborn woke up around dinner, and she handed him a plate without asking a thing. It wasn't until they were finished and she brought out the booze Xanxus kept stocked in her apartment for when he came over that she finally spoke.

"So... what brought you here?"

"I just wanted to see how you were handling Daniela's death."

"Uh-huh. What's the real reason?"

"Timoteo has recently visited Japan to see Iemitsu's civilian family and come to the unpleasant revelation that the Sky child he had sealed over a decade ago has been missing for some time with no idea where she is. Considering the fact Xanxus had made it clear he would only follow Vongola Decimo, he wants to hedge his bets. He likely planned to bring the girl in to act as a puppet so he could regain control through the shadows."

Hotaru paused and looked at him flatly.

"I see."

"Which brought to mind the fact Daniela was so quick to take you in as her apprentice and even gave you a base to work from as you slowly gained your own Guardians. That plus no one is aware where you came from," said Reborn evenly.

Hotaru said nothing, merely sipping her scotch.

"I know for a fact Iemitsu is a Sky, and it would stand to reason his _children_ might inherit that particular flame. Which is why I came to ask you what your surname is."

"I prefer not to be reminded of that jackass or the fact I'm his daughter. He's embarrassing enough as is," said Hotaru, neither confirming or denying it. "Are you going to tell that senile bastard who I am?"

"That depends."

"On what?" she asked.

Reborn brought out a decent-sized amount of Sun flames on his palm. He had suspected something was going on with how easily he 'clicked' with Black Cat. He didn't take to _anyone_ that quickly.

Hotaru didn't need words to guess what he wanted. She brought out her own flames, and carefully placed her hand over his. For a moment there was nothing, but then the bright gold of Reborn's Sun began to freely mingle with her Sky. It was as something inside them _clicked_ into place, and a feeling of warmth spread through her entire being.

Of knowing she would never be alone again, and that she had someone she could trust completely to have her back. Near her Reborn relaxed into the chair, a look of wonder and disbelief on his face.

It was clear now that he would never tell Timoteo who she was unless she allowed it.

Which meant she could probably trust him with a few other secrets as well.

"Shortly after the seal was applied, I woke up with a splitting migraine and memories that were both mine, but at the same time not. It was as if I had gained fifty years of memories as someone else, never mind the fact it took me a week or two to figure out how to use ice instead of fire. More than that I found it almost instinctive when it came to using Hades when I stumbled across the gun," she said calmly.

Reborn was silent. He wanted to dispute her claim, to say that was ridiculous. Except he was a man trapped in the body of a toddler because of a bright yellow pacifier who used soul fire.

Besides, _no one_ got that good without leaving traces behind. Black Cat had appeared out of nowhere and had taken the underworld by complete surprise with very little information.

"Who or what were you before?" he asked finally.

"I was an Eraser, something very close to a Varia Elite Assassin. We called ourselves the Chronos Numbers and we were _very_ good at what we did. Each Number had a specially crafted weapon made just for them using a very rare and valuable metal... Hades was mine. I was called the Black Cat, and for a while I was one of the best."

"So what happened?"

Hotaru smiled sadly.

" _She_ happened. A Sweeper, or bounty hunter if you will, came into my life and made me realize how tired I was of being just another killer. Of doing the dirty work of the higher ups and being made into a trained attack cat. She brought light back into my life without even knowing it. And I thought maybe, just maybe I could find my way out of the darkness I was in," said Hotaru, pouring a larger amount of scotch into the glass. "But I'm sure you can guess what happened. Good things don't happen so easily for us. Not without a major sacrifice or price for that happiness."

Reborn was silent, drinking his own glass.

Oh yes, he knew exactly what she meant. If something good happened to him like that, then he had to be extra careful to keep it from being taken from him. To prevent the loss of that happiness that could break him in a way he would never heal from.

"I had a...fan...of sorts. A fellow Number by the name of Creed. He was rather...displeased...by the fact she was reminding me of my humanity. That she was helping me regain what light I had left in me and made me smile. So he killed her and I watched her bleed out in my arms," said Hotaru.

A strange sort of silence passed between them. It was little wonder they had harmonized so easily, Reborn mused. They were so alike it wasn't even funny.

"What was her name?"

"Saya. Her name was Saya," said Hotaru.

Reborn was quiet...before he spoke.

"My real name is Renato Sinclair. After I was hit with the curse I was so lost that I couldn't bear the idea of being reminded of everything that was taken from me, so I erased that part of me and became Reborn," he said.

"My original name was Train Heartnet. You can imagine my shock when I realized I had been reincarnated into a girl's body."

Reborn snorted in spite of himself.

"Actually my current appearance isn't too far off from what I looked like before. Even if I have to dye my hair just to get the shade right, and my facial features are a bit different."

A sort of companionable silence settled between them. Hotaru didn't even ask why Reborn decided to share the bed with her. The only thing she could think of was that the newly formed bond between them made him rather clingy.

* * *

"You've harmonized, quite recently too," commented Fon. There was a distinct hint of surprise in his voice.

"She's something else," said Reborn, not volunteering any information.

Fon sipped his tea calmly.

"Famiglia?" he asked carefully.

"Officially she's not a part of any. Not at the moment anyway. Unofficially she's a bloodline Sky that's waiting for the right moment to cause an unprecedented level of chaos that will shake up the underworld considerably."

Fon's eyes widened slightly. For Reborn to make that sort of declaration, he could only imagine the sheer amount of headaches in the future.

"I see."

"I could see if she would be interested in letting you visit. She does know a few Chinese dishes and she has a preference for rice."

Fon perked up at that. Reborn typed on his phone and got an immediate reply back.

"She said it's fine, and she does have room for a Storm if you're interested. There's another she's been eyeing for a while, but she's inclined to keep her options open."

The Secundo had confirmed that one didn't need to be a full Guardian to take the post of Right Hand, so even if Hayato didn't end up her Storm he still had a chance to have his dream become reality.

Fon initially didn't notice anything special about Reborn's Sky...outside of the fact that Black Cat was apparently very good at hiding her actual primary.

Though to be honest he should have expected some form of troll in her with how easily she broke through his usual serene persona to make him openly choke on his tea.

"So tell me, did Kyouya ever get a girlfriend brave enough to date that carnivore and get laid, or is he still terrorizing Namimori with his habit of biting people to death?" she asked far too cheerfully for how easily she startled him.

Fon coughed repeatedly as the tea went down the wrong pipe, to Reborn's openly delight and amusement. This was _hilarious_.

"What?" he said shocked, staring at her openly.

"I said did Kyouya ever get a girlfriend...or boyfriend...brave enough to put up with his biting kink and habit of beating people up for crowding or disturbing the peace of Namimori and finally get laid?" she repeated. There was a distinctly impish gleam in her eyes and Reborn was enjoying his lack of composure far too much.

"How do you know about my son?" he demanded. "For that matter how did you know I was related to him?"

Hotaru cackled the same way Daniela would have after a very well executed prank.

"Really? You're almost a dead ringer for him in looks, except for the braid and the fact you have more of a Chinese feel than Japanese. Besides, he had to get his natural proficiency for tonfas and martial arts _somewhere._ Wait... did you say son?" said Hotaru blinking. She looked at Reborn oddly, before asking "Can you still use IVF treatments to have kids or something?"

Reborn coughed at that.

"Oddly enough, yes. It's just rather difficult to get the necessary materials since the curse basically white-washed our urge to procreate. However Verde found out that we weren't actually de-aged so much as 'compressed' to the size of toddlers."

Hotaru winced.

"Ouch."

"You still didn't answer my question. How do you know Kyouya?" demanded Fon.

"My surname is Sawada and I'm the small animal that managed to leave his territory. He was a total pain in the ass to get rid of, since he took extreme offense to the fact I left and was therefor going to miss an untold amount of school," said Hotaru simply. "My twin brother and mother still live in Namimori, but I doubt I'll ever forget that carnivore with a biting kink."

Fon actually gaped in disbelief.

" _You're_ the one who gave Kyouya that black eye all those years ago?" he said in shock, before he grinned. "He was so put out that there was someone who could have matched him that was more inclined to leave than give him someone to play with."

Hotaru snickered.

"I might visit sometime in the near future, but I doubt he'd be interested in leaving. From what I know of Clouds, especially classic ones like him they don't like leaving their claimed territory."

Fon had calmed down from the shock, at least enough to answer her initial question.

"Kyouya hasn't found anyone interesting enough to date, unfortunately."

"Damn. I could tell even when he was ten that he seriously needed to get laid."

Fon was glad he hadn't been drinking because he would have choked again.

Reborn was thoroughly enjoying Fon's reactions to his Sky. This was too funny, and an unexpected show.

"So what's it like being a Chinese ninja?" she asked.

"I am not a ninja," said Fon pouting.

"Can you accurately throw shuriken, kunai and use other traditional shinobi tools?" asked Hotaru flatly.

"Well yes..."

"Can you kill people silently and quickly without leaving any trace from the shadows?"

"I am a freelance assassin."

"Can you recreate various hands signs for flexibility exercises?"

"It's not often used, but yes..." said Fon.

"Then you fit the standard definition of a 'ninja', which people so easily forget was a rather specialized group of silent assassins that used martial arts techniques, specialized weapons and the art of silent killing to perform their duty," deadpanned Hotaru.

Fon was openly pouting, because it meant that the term that the other Arcobaleno used to jokingly call him was actually _true_.

"Best. Sky. Ever," said Reborn, clearly having far too much fun watching this show.

Fon had to admit, while curled up on the couch to take a nap, that perhaps Reborn's Sky wasn't too bad. A bit mischievous but she was a good match for his friend and comrade.

He vaguely felt her putting a light cover on him and softly drifted to sleep. He could see why Reborn had been drawn to her. That gentle, yet confident Flame was very addicting. It was like he was curled up against a playful nekomata, one that was just as quick to anger as it was to purr.

He didn't even realize he had slept the night away on the couch until morning, when he sensed Hotaru about to leave the apartment.

He let out a yawn that made his jaw crack a little. That had been the first time he had slept deeply in many years.

"Good morning."

"Good morning. I'm about to head out to the roof for a bit of light warm up. Care to join me?" she asked politely.

Fon stretched and felt strangely relaxed.

Fon quietly followed her and without a word accepted her offer of a quick ride on her shoulder.

The second he saw what she considered a 'light warm up', he was immediately appalled. His face twitched repeatedly.

"Who taught you to fight like that? You look more like a bar-room brawler than anything."

He couldn't quite keep the scorn out of his tone.

Hotaru looked at him a little owlishly.

"Maybe because that's where I learned how to fight. I'm more like Reborn when it comes to my fighting style and I mostly picked up the odd hand to hand move when it wasn't practical to use Hades."

Fon's love of martial arts cried at the sight of her technique. This...there were no words at how painful it was to watch her fight like that.

"Would you be open to learning how to fight properly?" he asked.

Hotaru blinked twice.

"How much would it cost me?" she asked seriously.

"It's more because just watching that mockery of a fighting style makes me cringe," deadpanned Fon.

"Sure. Learning a new way to fight can only benefit me in the long run, and maybe you can help me find a style that would suit my ice claws."

"Ice claws?" repeated Fon.

Seeing the cat-like claws made of pure ice, Fon had a wicked smirk on his face.

This was going to be _fun_.


	7. Chapter 7

***grins evilly* You know you wanted to see him, and now he's here! XD**

The first clue her day...hell, the next week...was about to go pear shaped in a hurry was the sudden attack that left her flat on the ground with some girl glomping the life out of her and making it very clear she was not letting go anytime soon.

The second was the sound of an exasperated sigh and someone saying "Not again."

Hotaru looked up to find a girl about her age with lilac colored eyes and a far too familiar crazed expression. She had cropped silver-white hair and her eyes practically _screamed_ she wasn't entirely sane in the head.

Not that Hotaru was about to cast stones, since she was on very good terms with well over half the Varia, including Belphegor, but still.

However it was the feel of her flames that made Hotaru pause and feel a chill of dawning shock...and recognition...pass through her own.

"Oh god... Creed?" she half-asked.

Please let that be her imagination, and not actually _him_.

"You remember me! I knew our bond was stronger than death, my beloved Train!" said Creed happily.

"Get off me you idiot!" snapped Hotaru.

Well at least now she knew that she wasn't the only one, but for the love of god why did _Creed_ have to be the first one she stumbled across who remembered?!

"You know my dear twin sister?" asked the boy with an almost pained voice.

"Unfortunately. Wait, twin? So I'm not the only one who got reborn with a fraternal twin?" said Hotaru in disbelief. Seriously, what were the odds Creed would have a twin brother as well.

Creed's eyes glinted with a familiar possessive gleam.

Hotaru could feel Creed's flames trying to latch onto her own.

She gave her old friend/stalker a flat look.

"If and when I find Saya, will you agree not to try and kill her again?" she asked seriously.

"So long as Train is mine, now and forever, I suppose I could tolerate that witch's presence," said Creed.

Hotaru thought this over. On one hand, Creed was apparently still an unstable nutcase.

On the other hand, the sheer headaches she could inflict on people who annoyed her and the fact that Hotaru knew damn well Creed was _very_ loyal (if highly unstable) wasn't something to be tossed aside so lightly.

"You know what, screw it. If I can be friends with that bloodthirsty brat Belphegor I suppose I can tolerate having you as one of my Elements," said Hotaru.

Creed's eyes gleamed with delight and possessive intent. The crackle of electricity with all the possessiveness of a particularly territorial Mist filled her Sky.

"...Somehow it doesn't surprise me that you were born with Lightning and Mist flames," deadpanned Hotaru. At least she wouldn't have to go hunting for a Lightning.

Most of the ones in the underworld were completely ruined because everyone expected them to act as meat shields.

Creed was positively giddy and was already clinging to her new Sky and obsession.

"I don't know whether to pity you or pray for your sanity," said her brother after a moment.

"Pity the Vongola. They still have no idea what's about to hit them," she said with far too much mischief and cheer.

The boy stared...before asking "Are you related to Giotto Vongola by any chance through your father?"

"I refuse to acknowledge any blood relation to Iemitsu," scowled Hotaru. "And no Creed, that isn't permission to kill him. Trolling him though..."

The boy started to laugh, long hard and with a slightly unhinged note.

"Of all the people my dear twin sister had to bond to, it was the Vongola Decima!" he cackled.

Then again this was the first time he had been born with a twin. Even if she wasn't a Sky, she was still his beloved sister.

"So what's your name this time?" asked Hotaru.

"Rosethorn Gesso," she said, practically purring.

"Hotaru," she replied.

"Don't you mean Black Cat?" asked Creed's brother with a grin.

Creed looked delighted to hear that.

"Like I was going to stick around in that house after I got my memories back with my mother like that. Better to make a clean break and let her keep her little fantasy intact than risk it. Besides... I was really bored," she admitted.

"Considering the number of alternate worlds where your sibling or mother treat you like crap after you were sealed, that was probably a good thing," commented the boy. "Where are my manners. Byakuran Gesso, heir of the Gesso famiglia. You have my deepest sympathies for having my sister as your new Lightning."

Byakuran was not oblivious to his sister's bad habits. If something got in her way she was more inclined to stab first and ask questions later. It was for that reason that they preferred to keep her within the bounds of the Gesso territory and prayed they found someone willing to marry her later, if only to make her their headache. Fortunately she was more inclined to simply be around her twin and look through interesting reports about various mafioso than go out and cause trouble.

Come to think of it, she had taken a very terrifying interest in the hit man Black Cat, but refused to explain why.

And now Rosethorn had harmonized with the future Vongola Decima. Byakuran didn't know whether to laugh, cry or simply pity the holder of the Vongola rings.

Hotaru looked at Rosethorn exasperated.

"Just so we're clear, I don't care if you decided to be a crazy bitch around me so long as I don't have to fill out the paperwork for it. You can give the Ninth generation conniption fits about your behavior for all I care so long as their inevitable heart attacks or aneurysms don't get traced back to me," said Hotaru bluntly. "And you had better get used to sharing me this time, otherwise there _will_ be more than words."

Rosethorn's eyes gleamed.

"So long as you don't go soft like before when that witch got her claws into you, I can tolerate having to share."

"Considering I plan to seize control of the Vongola and will likely need all my old skills, I highly doubt that will be an issue this time."

* * *

 _A short time later_

Reborn had to stare at Hotaru's new Lightning.

"Really? You had to bond with the unstable twin of the Gesso heir as your Lightning?"

"It gets even better. She's Creed's reincarnation," deadpanned Hotaru, already looking for some migraine medicine. "On an unrelated note Byakuran was more than happy to help discreetly fund me in exchange for keeping his sister happy...and on a leash where he wouldn't have to deal with it directly. Once I take control he's going to create a potential alliance between me and the Gesso."

Creed looked at Reborn with a disturbing amount of fascination.

"Really, my darling firefly? You went and harmonized with the World's Greatest Hit Man as your Sun? It's so delightful to know that you still have good taste," she purred.

Reborn couldn't help but feel his skin crawl hearing that. He had heard things about the Gesso heir's sister, but there was something that screamed she was dangerous and unstable to every sense he had.

And his Sky looked perfectly comfortable around the psycho.

"Reborn, I'm on good terms with most, if not all the Varia. And to be honest, I at least know where I stand with Rosethorn. So long as she behaves and I don't have to clean up after her just learn to tune out her behavior," said Hotaru flatly.

Rosethorn almost looked like she wanted to pout at that.

"Besides, at least this way I _know_ my Lightning will actually be competent and perfectly capable of killing anyone who tries to do the same to me. Creed wasn't exactly known for being lenient with those that got between him and his obsession."

"And if you see Saya again?" asked Reborn.

"I will tolerate that witch's presence so long as my dear Black Cat never goes soft again," sniffed Rosethorn. "It was absolutely terrible how much my beloved cat resented me for killing her last time!"

Definitely a psycho, but at least Reborn was coming to terms with how the girl's mind worked. He could learn to ignore it, so long as she never directly targeted him.

Mostly because he wasn't entirely certain he would come out on top of that particular fight.

"So just to be clear, you bonded with a Yandere Lightning?" said Reborn at last.

Hotaru about died laughing her ass off.

"Oh god, why didn't I think of that?" she said cracking up. Because seriously, Creed's behavior _was_ pretty standard for a yandere.

Rosethorn was definitely pouting now.

"First brother and now you! Is it really that funny?"

"Yes, and I wish I had known about Japanese pop culture terms last time because it would have saved me a lot of grief," deadpanned Hotaru, getting over her amusement.

Because if she had known _exactly_ what sort of personality Creed had before she would have been much more careful about being around Saya.

* * *

Rosethorn took one look at Squalo and a vicious grin appeared on her face. She had always wanted to play with the current Sword Emperor, but her brother would never let her.

"Voi. Why is she staring at me like that?" demanded Squalo.

"She's a yandere Lightning who uses swords. Odds are she just wants to play with you. Word of warning though...she's about as stable as Prince the Ripper when she really gets into it," said Hotaru dismissively.

Xanxus choked when he heard the words "yandere Lightning", and had to give Hotaru an incredulous look when she openly stated her new Guardian was about as 'stable' as Belphegor when he saw blood.

"Where did you find this one?"

"She found me. It's a long story, but at least I _know_ what her obsession is and how to deal with her behavior."

Train had worked with Creed a long time, and it was only when he tried to leave behind the life of a hit man that Creed had flipped. It didn't help that he had been attempting to become a little more human while turning Creed's offer down.

If he had known what a yandere was, he would have been a lot smarter about the whole affair and Saya might have lived.

So having the man...well, woman back by her side again was oddly comforting. At least this time he had better idea of what her personality was like and how to avoid certain triggers.

Squalo had to admit, Hotaru's assessment of her Lightning's personality was dead on. However that didn't mean he was bored... the Gesso brat was the first real challenge he had had in a very long time and he was already grinning wickedly while fighting her!

"How the hell did you end up with that girl turning her obsessive behavior towards you? Even Belphegor is considered _sane_ next to that one!"

"...Would you believe reincarnation and the fact she apparently recognized me from before?" asked Hotaru.

Xanxus turned his attention to Rosethorn, who was giving off enough bloodlust to match Belphegor on a _really_ bad day and all the obsessive tendencies of Mammon around a large amount of money or profit. Her skills were far too good for anything less than years and years of real combat experience, but he knew perfectly well the Gesso had been keeping a lid on this particular girl because of her behavior. The odds of her coming by it normally were so damn low it wasn't even worth considering.

He looked back at Hotaru.

"I believe it. That actually explains a damn lot, like where you got so skilled with a gun when no one even knew who you were until you suddenly appeared on the radar with enough talent to match even the infamous Renato Sinclair at his prime," said Xanxus deadpan.

"We were teamed up in our previous life, and the second she recognized me she decided she wasn't going to let something as ridiculous as being reincarnated stop her from becoming one of my Elements. Considering her behavior before, when I had no idea the level of her obsession, I decided it was easier to go along with it and just hope for the best," said Hotaru tiredly.

Xanxus smirked.

"I came with good booze."

"For the love of god share, because she would drive even a saint to drink! Though there was one big reason I took her in as my Lightning."

"What was that?"

"Imagining the reaction of the Ninth generation and the jackass when they realized who she was and the depth of her obsession towards me, and the fact I wouldn't bother to reign in her behavior so long as she didn't attack civilians and I didn't have to fill out the paperwork for it."

Xanxus had to take a moment to process this. He took a good, long look at the psychotic Lightning playing with his Right hand and Rain, and then at the cheerful expression on Hotaru's face imagining the chaos of inflicting Rosethorn on the Ninth generation.

Then he did something that sent shivers down Squalo's spine...and oddly enough Timoteo and Coyote, despite the fact they weren't within earshot of it.

He started howling with laughter at the thought of inflicting Rosethorn on the Vongola.

"I _almost_ feel sorry for Bianchi, though. Even if she is a borderline pedophile."

"Why's that?" asked Xanxus, when he could speak again.

"She tried to poison me because she thought I was holding Reborn's affections from her...and Rosethorn damn near gutted her. If Hayato hadn't pleaded for his sister's life she would have left here with more than just a few life threatening injuries and possibly major scarring," said Hotaru. "On an unrelated note she had a rather interesting reaction to being called a borderline pedophile to her face."

Bianchi had a very startled and disgusted look when Hotaru called her out on her own obsession with Reborn. The whole 'true love conquers all' nonsense annoyed her greatly, and if Bianchi's reaction was amusing it was nothing compared to the look on Reborn's face as Hotaru calmly explained how Bianchi's attempts to "woo" a man trapped in the body of a toddler would look to anyone who didn't know what an Arcobaleno was.

It was one thing to claim maternal or sisterly love for a small child. It was an entirely different kettle of fish that generally resulted in a lot of people all too willing to 'remove' said person from the collective gene pool of humanity to express _romantic_ love to someone under the age of ten. Even if it was just appearance wise.

That she made the mistake of targeting Hotaru in view of _Rosethorn_ was either spectacularly bad timing altogether or just a sign from above that she should really find someone else to obsess over...or force to be her boyfriend.

Reborn certainly kept his mouth shut, but then again he had mostly humored Bianchi to begin with and had never really reciprocated her 'feelings' for him. She was too young for him anyway, since he was a little over sixty and old enough to be her grandfather.

Xanxus just laughed his ass off.

Hotaru was far too entertaining and he had absolutely _no_ regrets treating her like a little sister. Besides, he saw his Nonna in her every time she pulled something like this and he couldn't wait for her to announce her heritage and make her own claim for the Vongola rings.

He almost felt sorry for whoever Federico dragged up as his Lightning.

Almost.


	8. Chapter 8

In a weird twist of fate, the one that got along best with Creed/Rosethorn was Hotaru's unofficial Mist/stalker, Daemon Spade.

If anyone understood the depth of obsession Creed had, never mind the naturally twisted mindset of a Mist, it was the treacherous Mist Guardian of the first and second generation of the Vongola.

Hotaru drew the line at Creed learning that annoying laugh Daemon had, and strictly reminded them both that they were only allowed to troll the Ninth generation close to insanity so long as they never allowed it to come back to her.

She happily turned a blind eye to the tricks and nightmares they inflicted on CEDEF save for Lal Mirch (and that only because they semi-respected Fon and Reborn). Iemitsu was a particular favorite target of them both.

Though what she really hoped for was for Sven to return. By this point she was almost certain Hayato was his reincarnation, but unlike Creed he was still asleep.

Hayato for the most part was fairly loyal and was already making progress towards potentially harmonizing with her, though it would go much faster if he were Active instead of just Inactive. She wasn't going to push it, besides she had no idea how to wake her old friend and second partner up.

(He would likely get a good, long laugh at the fact she had been reborn a girl.)

As it stood, she didn't need to worry about it.

Because that particular issue would solve itself in the most unexpected of ways on top of proving she apparently had some sort of weird attractant effect on powerful and slightly deranged Mists, or Mist-secondaries.

Seriously, how did she keep drawing them in? It wasn't like she deliberately went looking for the psychos and obsessive types!

The attack was sudden, it was unexpected, and the side effects of it still gave her headaches.

On an unrelated note, Sven was sort of awake though the merger wasn't as complete as it had been for Creed or Train.

Hayato had been out getting groceries, as it was his turn to get them (Hotaru or one of the other tenants on her floor would cook, but someone was always elected to do a mass purchase of groceries) when he felt a sharp stabbing pain in his side, barely enough to really cause bleeding but still quite painful.

His last sight was that of a male about his age, possibly a little older with mismatched eyes and a weird pineapple hair style that looked far too much like the weird ghost that hung around Hotaru.

He even had a similar creepy laugh as Daemon did.

" _Kufufufufu..."_

In the depths of Hayato's mind, something stirred...and it was not happy at the situation.

* * *

 _With Hotaru and the others_

"...Do I have some sort of weird catnip effect on Mists or something, because this is literally the third time I've drawn a deranged bloodthirsty illusionist right too me that has developed a weird obsession," asked Hotaru.

"You know at his point I'm genuinely beginning to wonder the same thing," commented Reborn. "Once was an oddity, twice is coincidence, but three times with nearly identical levels of obsession and a habit of going straight for the highly traumatizing and terrifying attacks? Even for a Sky that's pretty odd."

"And what have you done to Hayato?" demanded Hotaru, distinctly annoyed.

"Kufufufu... You should be more worried about what I'm planning to do to you."

Hotaru stared at him, mostly for the laugh. Her eyebrows twitched rampantly. His appearance she could ignore as a weird coincidence or odd throwback to Daemon, but that laugh on top of a Mist Flame?

"Dammit Daemon, you could have mentioned that you knocked someone up while you were possessing people!"

Daemon's ghost appeared with a mildly offended look at that comment.

" _For your information my ability to possess people does_ not _extend that far,_ " he remarked.

His appearance alone had the two behind the younger Mist gape in disbelief. Mostly because the ghost was a dead ringer for an older version of the boy with the kanji in his eye...well, except for the outdated clothing.

"Then how the hell do you explain why this one looks almost identical to you, right down to the same Flame type and laugh?" she demanded.

Daemon looked at the teen who was very confused and more than a little wary, then at her.

" _I dismissed Hayato's resemblance to G as a coincidence and the fact that Fon and his son Kyouya look like black haired, Asian versions of Alaude...but this is getting ridiculous. If I didn't know any better I'd swear someone was trying to recreate the Primo's generation,"_ said Daemon, just as confused.

"Considering what Byakuran commented on, that would not surprise me in the least," sighed Hotaru. "Which means if things fall into the same pattern he mentioned, you three are on run from the Vindice and the man behind you is a patsy."

Seeing the shocked looks on their faces, she pinched the bridge of her nose.

"Right, I think I can solve this without having to deal with a bigger headache than the one I have, but you're not going to like it. Then again you were the ones who attacked Hayato so you can consider this a bit of karma. Daemon... why don't you show the Mist exactly how one is supposed to use that trick of yours without the toys?"

Daemon's grin was wicked... unlike Giotto, Hotaru was a true hit man. Just because she was very laid back and often acted like a lazy cat didn't mean she was above being a little creative when it came to punishment.

The Mist had no chance to defend himself, and certainly hadn't encountered someone who could pull the same trick he could.

"Mukuro!" cried out the blond in alarm.

" _Nufufufu! Little firefly, I do believe we've found the_ perfect _solution to our issue,"_ said Daemon.

"Why does this not surprise me," sighed Hotaru.

The icy-hot feel of the Vindice filled the air, and Hotaru turned to look at them unimpressed. She had never really understood the fear of the 'zombie cops' as she liked to call them, unless it was an ingrained reaction to fearing something you didn't understand that was far stronger than you were.

Hotaru stood before the Vindice without a hint of fear.

"Before you arrest them, perhaps it would be wise to hear _their_ side of the story? I have the feeling you weren't given all the facts about what really happened and I doubt you'd want your reputation as an unbiased watch group tarnished."

The Vindice stared at her, mostly because of her audacity. Still, waiting a few moments to hear the other side of the story would cost them nothing, as it wasn't like they could escape anyway

Daemon released Mukuro, at least enough to make it clear that if he tried anything he was screwed.

Mukuro glared at her for it, but kept his silence.

"So...why did you kill the Drago famiglia?"

"They were going to use us the same way the Esterneo did," Mukuro bit out. "They actually thought I would let them treat _my_ minions like disposable cannon fodder for their famiglia, so I destroyed them using their strongest fighter."

" **The Esterneo was wiped out,"** said the Vindice.

Mukuro snorted derisively at that.

"I wasn't born with this eye...they had to pay for the hell they put us through, and you filthy mafioso weren't going to care so long as it was kept in-house."

That made the Vindice pause.

Daemon whispered something to Hotaru, which fit in line with what Byakuran had told her about her alternate's Mist guardian. An idea formed in her head about how to resolve this and get Daemon a new body to work with.

She really didn't get the whole "Skies can have only one Element of each type" deal.

"What about a compromise, since this seems to be more of a case of a famiglia biting off more than they can chew for not doing their background research?" asked Hotaru.

" **What sort of compromise?"**

"Mukuro hands over the possession bullets, and I take them under my Sky. If things don't work out one of us can always kill them and put them out of their misery... Reborn is rather notorious for being immune to Mist illusions after all and he's my Sun. However if he acts as my Mist, with the agreement that I also take in his two minions, then he'll be the Vongola's problem and not yours."

That made the Vindice look at her hard.

" **You are a Cloud, not a Sky."**

Hotaru cheerfully brought out her full flames.

"I am a direct descendant of Giotto and we've been building up strength so that I can challenge the current heir into a Ring Battle over who takes the mantle of Decimo. I still need a few more Guardians, but once I have the full set I can legally challenge the heir."

It was how Daniela got her spot...she was named heir and kicked the ass of her cousins (all men) who tried to challenge her claim.

" **If you fail, we will arrest both you and your Guardians."**

"Fair enough," said Hotaru easily.

With the ability and power levels of her current Guardians, never mind the fact that Daniela's rings already accepted her claim, there was very little chance she was going to fail. Federico was aware of what was going on (Xanxus made sure of that, besides he wasn't really interested in that much paperwork), but he wasn't going to go easy on her either.

Mukuro was not pleased by the entire agreement, but he handed over the bullets in his possession as well as freed Lancia. He was positively pissed about the fact he was forced to serve as a Guardian under a filthy mafioso.

Which was why Hotaru waited until they were home before dropping a different agreement with him.

"First off, I know you want to see the underworld burn for what happened. However logistically that's out of your reach because as long as there are laws, there will be people all too willing to break them for greed and other ridiculous reasons. However I _can_ offer you a much more appealing alternative. One that won't get you arrested again."

"What could you possibly offer me?" Mukuro demanded.

Her smirk was positively evil.

"How about the ones who _supplied_ the Esterneo and all those stupid enough to back them financially for their experiments. Or better yet, those that profited from them?"

Mukuro went ramrod straight, as did his minions.

"What?"

"It's one thing to go on a complete massacre of people who have wronged you, or were just born into the wrong family. However it's another thing to create a noose and let them hang themselves with it so that the Vindice won't come after you. While the first seems more satisfying, the second still lets you walk free and tells people not to screw with you or you'll completely ruin them. Besides, if you do it right then you'll take out the weaker players and save your strength for the rest."

Seeing she had his full attention, Hotaru elaborated.

"How do you think a famiglia would react if their money was suddenly gone or their secrets were exposed to their enemies in a way that set the wolves at their door? Except they aren't given a chance to breath and start to feel the pressure of a stronger, more cunning force trying to destroy them completely?"

Reborn walked in on that.

"I sense chaos at an unprecedented scale and I want in."

Hotaru grinned at him, allowing Reborn to sit on her shoulder.

"Here's a hypothetical scenario. A famiglia is in sudden dire straights because a hacker or very determined individual made off with their money and has been methodically taking chunks out of their influence, leaving them exposed. And every time one of their allies tries to assist, they get attacked as well in a way that leaves a message, or worse, they realize they're next on the list. Suddenly they're surrounded by all sides as other families realize an opportunity to seize more power and start chipping away at them as well. Now they're in dire straights, enough to make major mistakes that could easily make them just another fallen famiglia no one wants to associate with."

Reborn's eyes glinted.

"That sounds positively devious and terrifying."

"Now imagine word spreads that a former member of the Esterneo famiglia is out for revenge on anyone who helped them, and suddenly they start getting very sloppy indeed. This member is already dangerous enough that he wiped out two families almost down to the last man and is a very powerful Mist."

Mukuro was _definitely_ interested now.

"Add into this scenario that the same Mist is also the _Mist Guardian_ of the Vongola Decima, which means he has the backing of the entire Vongola to help him within reason, since his Sky is perfectly happy to assist him in cleaning out the trash out of the underworld," said Hotaru.

She hooked at thumb at Rosethorn, who was radiating enough malevolent bloodlust to make even Mukuro wary of her.

"Imagine having someone like her assisting you because she's bored and because I asked," said Hotaru.

Mukuro stared at her, before he started laughing.

"Kufufufufu... I think this might be a _wonderful_ working relationship... Boss."

"To sweeten the deal I'll throw in the same protection for your friends. You clearly work well with them and I see no reason to separate you from your allies. If anything we can train them up to be even more effective in helping you destroy any former allies of the Esterneo."

The two behind Mukuro shared a look. This person didn't seem as bad as they originally thought, even if she did have that ghost possess Mukuro.

Hotaru was nice and gave them the apartment next to Hayato's. Chikusa was actually rather adept at wiring, and mechanical things, so Hotaru put him in charge of the small garage attached to the complex as well as electrical maintenance. Ken was put in charge of the rooftop garden and the strays that collected up there.

As for Mukuro... Hotaru cheerfully tossed him in Mammon's direction for training in how to use his Flame as well as how to completely ruin someone, so long as the Mist Arcobaleno got a decent cut of the cash he stole.

The amount of "Kufufufu" she heard from her new Mist was almost as headache inducing as keeping Creed on a leash.


	9. Chapter 9

Hotaru was frustrated, and not just from dealing with Creed's obsessive behavior, Mukuro's lashing out as he slowly started to heal from the trauma inflicted on him in his short life, or even Reborn's incessant need for chaos.

No what made her frustrated was the fact she hadn't gotten any since she went out with Dino and with Creed's presence she wasn't _likely_ to get any unless the man was positively suicidal.

Creed only had eyes for her and was beyond possessive. She would take offense if someone tried to date Hotaru and potentially take her away again.

Suddenly an idea occurred to Hotaru. A way to kill a few birds with a single stone.

And possibly put a lid on Creed's more...terrifying habits.

Hotaru's grin was wide and somewhat evil.

"I know that look. You're up to something."

"Tell everyone to avoid the apartment. I have a plan on how to deal with Creed's excessive energy."

Reborn took _one_ look at her expression before snorting.

"Take your time... And have fun," he said flatly.

He was a notorious playboy, and it didn't take a genius to figure out that Hotaru planned to have a bit of bedroom fun with her Lightning and hopefully settle the girl down. Then again he was also aware that she hadn't exactly been getting any since she was dating Dino.

"I intend to. Though I will admit this will be a first for me."

Train hadn't really _dated_ in his past life, and the closest he ever had to a meaningful relationship had been with Saya, as short lived as that had been.

It wasn't until Creed ran into him again after the mess with Eve that Train found out the _real_ reason Creed had killed Saya. It wasn't that she was making him leave the life of an assassin behind... Creed had been disillusioned long before Train decided to break off from Chronos. Creed had been positively _terrified_ that Train would forget him and leave him behind for Saya.

Creed didn't have many people he could call a friend, in either lifetime. But Train was one of the few who not only put up with his erratic behavior but actually had a camaraderie with him. He could even match Creed in a fight and not die if he went all out.

It had taken that single conversation for Train to fully let the fact Creed had murdered Saya go. He didn't forgive him, but he no longer hated him either.

Even if it did result in Rosethorn becoming Hotaru's Lightning this time around. At least now she would be assured that she wouldn't be left behind and forgotten. That she would always have a real, tangible connection to the one person who understood her the best and cared.

Now if only that understanding didn't lead to Rosethorn pretty much insuring Hotaru wouldn't get laid any time soon...

With any luck Rosethorn would mostly calm down with her behavior and whatever chemical imbalance she had would get a little reworking.

* * *

 _Rosethorn/Creed POV_

The first hint of something odd about to happen came when she felt arms around her waist. Callused hands started roaming in places no one had been allowed to touch before.

Creed was all too happy to murder whichever pest that hung around _his_ Train was trying to make a move on her...except that thought stalled in disbelief upon realizing who was behind her.

"Hotaru? What are you doing?" she asked baffled and more than a little confused. This was not how Train usually acted.

Train grinned wickedly.

"Well since you seem so determined to keep me all to yourself and I really doubt there would be anyone brave enough to date you long enough to sleep with you."

Come to think of it, Hotaru genuinely couldn't think of a single instance when Creed had gone out and gotten laid in their past life either. Maybe a one-night stand, but those were so rare and he never spoke of whether he had fun or not. And Train wasn't really that interested in that sort of thing and risking getting some disease or another. He was a bit more romantic than that.

So the fact Hotaru was clearly planning to have some fun of the bedroom kind with _her_ of all people made Rosethorn's usually chaotic brain stall, big time. So much so that she didn't resist the gentle tug of her hand into her room.

"What about the others?"

"They're spending the night elsewhere and there's a special Mist area made by Daemon to deal with the sound. So let loose and have a bit of fun," said Hotaru wickedly. Catching Rosethorn flat-footed like this was entirely too much fun and so very entertaining.

She should have done this sooner if this was how she reacted.

* * *

Reborn wasn't the only one who stared at the relaxed, if exhausted figure that was Rosethorn Gesso at the table. Her usual energy was gone and she actually felt 'sane/stable' to the senses.

"Okay I'll bite. How did you settle her down?" asked Xanxus.

Compared to Rosethorn, Hotaru was positively chipper and perky. She was also far too smug.

"I know what she did," said Reborn amused. "So she just needed to get laid?"

Xanxus looked at Reborn with shock, then at the attitude of Rosethorn and Hotaru, before laughing. Long and hard.

"Pulled a fast one on your Lightning did you?"

"Can you really see just anyone actually being brave enough to sleep with her, much less take full control?" said Hotaru cheekily.

Xanxus snorted at that.

"So she was the submissive?" he asked, grinning at her.

"A very obedient submissive, once the shock wore off," said Hotaru far too impishly. "Once she started getting into it, it got even better."

Once Rosethorn got over the shock of the things Hotaru was doing to her, she really got into it and happily followed any 'order' Hotaru gave her.

No wonder Byakuran was always so cross about her ruining his dates.

"You're playing a dangerous game," commented Reborn.

"Not really. Just means I have to plan ahead for a proper threesome with Rosethorn joining in when bored. I highly doubt any man would turn _that_ down so long as they understand she's _mine_."

Reborn and Xanxus both stared at her before smirking at each other.

When she put it like that, she was entirely correct. No straight man would turn down a threesome with two girls all too happy to share, even if Hotaru made it clear Rosethorn's only interest was in her Sky and no one else.

Even Reborn would happily agree to such an arrangement, though Rosethorn's personality left much to be desired.

Rosethorn certainly had no arguments to the matter, as she would happily lean into Hotaru long before they slept together. In fact she was almost purring.

Hotaru looked at Reborn.

"How does a trip to Japan sound to you?"

"What do you have planned?"

"My Intuition is telling me to visit my hometown, likely to pick a few people up. Besides, I haven't seen my twin or mother in over ten years. It would be interesting to see if they recognize me since I haven't bothered to re-dye my hair recently."

Hotaru had let her hair grow out for a bit while she was with Daniela, revealing her natural hair color was closer to a light caramel. However she had it cut after the funeral and hadn't bothered to have it dyed again...it was such a pain to hide her roots and everyone recognized her by now.

Reborn was silent.

"Are you retrieving your brother?"

Hotaru shook her head.

"He likely wouldn't recognize me, and if he did I would be very surprised. For now he is safe as a civilian since he's still an Inactive Flame and there's no telling if he's a Sky as well. However if possible I would like to try and cultivate Hibari as my Cloud Guardian...with the agreement that he keep a close eye on my mother and twin in Namimori, and only leave when I need his assistance."

Reborn looked rather approving of that. As a Classic Cloud, Fon's son would resent anyone that attempted to remove him from his territory. However making it a temporary thing and letting him establish a support base from it was far more reasonable and likely to earn his favor.

"Besides...I have plans to see if Byakuran can help mitigate the distance issue. If I remember correctly he mentioned something about a transportation system he made in an alternate world that allowed instant travel. Never mind the fact that a skilled Mist can do almost the same thing for a limited distance. I bet that would interest even Verde," said Hotaru.

If they could get around the distance issue and allow Kyouya to sleep in his own bed in Namimori while still being able to work in Italy during the day, then any issues over leaving his territory could be easily dealt with.

While she was cultivating a relationship with Fon as her potential Storm (Hayato still had yet to go Active, but she had seen many, many signs of Sven's little habits starting to appear), she didn't particularly want Verde as a Lightning.

For one thing, Rosethorn would throw a massive fit and possibly kill him. For another, she had seen enough amoral scientists to know she wanted nothing to do with one. She might hire him and let him play around on her payroll, but trust him with her exposed back, never.

"Meh. Just be sure to fill out the missing parts of your Sky soon, Hell Cat," said Xanxus.

Hell Cat being Hotaru's official Varia designation, even if she wasn't actually a member of the group. By this point she had gained the respect of the majority of the group, and the rest would follow Xanxus' lead anyway.

Thanks to her any remaining traitors who followed that fool Ottabio had met a very unpleasant end. The second even a hint of collusion was found, Xanxus had them quietly disposed of.

Fortunately the number of such idiots who hadn't already fled (and were subsequently killed if the Varia Elite tracked them down) were barely a handful at best. Out of the near three hundred members of the Varia, only five or six were permanently dealt with on top of Ottabio.

"Should I ask Fon if he would be interested in joining us?" asked Reborn.

"That might be a good idea. Though I do have plans for how I can tempt Hibari into joining our group."

Hibari was a very simple creature at heart. He desired strong opponents to test himself against, and while he tolerated companionship what he really wanted was someone strong he could rely on to have his back while allowing him to drift freely like the Cloud he was. Someone who respected his boundaries and accepted his claim on his territory.

The odds of finding a woman who could tolerate his habits and bloodthirsty behavior without flinching, much less have enough strength of their own to stand by him without him having to rescue them all the damn time were almost impossible to find. At least, not within the appropriate age range and not already married anyway.

Hotaru and Rosethorn could give him that challenge, and they could easily respect his claim on Namimori. If anyone understood the desire to have a strong opponent and wanting someone that they _knew_ they could trust to have their back without faltering, it was them.

Besides, Hotaru was well aware that Hibari was quite the looker and he really needed someone to release that pent up energy inside him before he snapped.

(She still found it hilarious that Byakuran sent an entire rose bush of his sister's favorite flower for their rooftop gardens when he found out about the change in their relationship. So long as she was happy...and far away from him while he was trying to get a date...he was more than happy to send such gifts.)

* * *

Taking a deep breath of air, Hotaru felt a strange sense of nostalgia. It was funny...she had left over a decade ago and the place still felt like home.

"Anyone up for sushi? I've been having a craving for it for days since my intuition started acting up."

"Depends, are you paying?" asked Mammon.

Hotaru rolled her eyes.

"Nothing too expensive and I am _not_ paying for the booze," she deadpanned.

"Acceptable."

"Shishishi... the Prince knows the best place to have sushi," said Belphegor happily.

"Why did you two come anyway?" asked Reborn.

"Belphegor was being a bigger pain in the ass than usual and he usually shuts up after he comes to eat here," said Mammon flatly. "Besides the Boss and Squalo are both pinned down by mission reports and paperwork, and we had nothing better to do."

"Figures. I can't wait to fill out my remaining Guardian spots, if only so I can get the Ring Battles over with."

"Which ones do you need and how many do you have?" asked Mammon curious.

"I have Daemon and Mukuro, both are high level Mists, though I'm still trying to get in touch with Verde to see if he would be interested in making a clone body for Daemon to inhabit. I have Rosethorn, who is a Lightning-Mist. Reborn who is my Sun and Fon who recently agreed to act as my Storm. I can feasibly act as a Cloud, but I would rather have an actual one in my group so I just need Rain and Cloud."

Mammon nearly dropped in shock.

Every one of her Guardians was extremely powerful in their own right, particularly Fon and Reborn. For her to be able to draw in such people would require equal or greater strength.

Xanxus was wise to ally with her, rather than try and challenge her claim as the next leader of the Vongola. It didn't hurt that she was far more partial to the Varia than she was to CEDEF.

Odds were that Federico would happily take over as External Adviser purely to kick Iemitsu out and help them get rid of the rot that had settled into the family during the Ninth Generation.

It was during their late lunch that Hotaru found a good lead on her Rain.

There was a boy about her age who was giving off all the signs of being close to going Active just drifting around as if lost.

Hotaru noticed the strong resemblance to the chef and it didn't take much to guess this was either his son or a very close relative like a nephew.

"Your son?"

The chef had a sad smile on his face.

"My boy Takashi. He suffered a set back recently and managed to pull through, but I'm afraid he's lost his path."

He had barely survived the attempted suicide and while his arm had healed his love of baseball had taken a massive hit. Worse, he had come to the hard realization that his friends were all fake and more interested in themselves.

"How good is he at playing baseball?" asked Hotaru interested. It had been some time since she enjoyed a good game.

"He used to be the star player until the incident. They cut him from the team after he got back from the hospital," said Tsuyoshi sadly. Even more damning was none of his former classmates would come in if they knew Takashi was there.

Especially after the not-so-minor incident shortly after his arm healed where Takashi killed a yakuza with his bat when they tried to gang up on him, and while he had gotten off with self-defense (the yakuza had jumped him in full view of the security cameras and were clearly intending to do life-threatening harm to him) the fact it hadn't phased him tended to scare civilians.

There was a darkness in his heart that made his son a natural hit man, and Tsuyoshi was genuinely concerned his son would end up with the wrong sort of people...particularly once he went Active.

Hotaru eyed Takashi, then Tsuyoshi.

"How would you feel if he was recruited as a Rain Guardian for someone making a bid as Vongola Decimo?" she asked in a low voice.

Tsuyoshi's knife paused, before continuing.

"Depends on how the Sky would treat him. If he finds someone who can bring him out of the depression he's in, I'll have no arguments against it. He might be better off in the underworld than he would trying to survive a civilian."

Hotaru nodded.

"So, baseball right? Know any good places where we won't accidentally cause collateral damage from stray balls?" she asked cheerfully in a slightly louder tone.

"As a matter of fact, I do," said Tsuyoshi smirking.


	10. Chapter 10

Takeshi didn't know why his dad sent him out with his old bat. He hadn't used it in several months now and was starting to forget his old instincts.

He also didn't know why his dad was firm that he had to go to one of his old practice spots, which was somewhat out of the way.

Confusion turned to shock and some dismay when he realized someone was already playing a minor pick-up game in his old spot.

It took him several seconds to register the ball flying at his face, and another two before he reacted accordingly. Hearing the sound of the ball sent flying away from him created a nostalgic feeling.

"Are you going to stand around all day playing spectator or are you going to join in?" asked the pitcher, a girl who bore a really weird resemblance to Ieyasu Sawada.

If he didn't know any better he'd swear she was his twin sister or something.

Takeshi plastered on his fake smile, which came far too easily.

"Ahahaha... you sure you want me to join in?"

Most people avoided him after the incident with the yakuza.

Takeshi cautiously joined in, and was rather shocked when they didn't bother to hold back. It was rather strange to play his favorite game with people just as strong as he was, much less the odd camaraderie that was slowly beginning to form between them. He had to laugh when he recognized Prince Belphegor, who seemed rather pleased to have a reason to let loose without restrictions.

So it was with great shock that his bat erupted into blue flames tinged with indigo.

Hotaru face-palmed.

"Do I have some sort or weird catnip for Mists or something?" she asked.

Mammon snorted at that.

"There's a distinct possibility you might have a Mist secondary in you. Or it could be your Clound and Sky are calling them to you," said Mammon.

Takeshi began to sway, as activating his Flames took a lot out of him.

Hotaru caught him easily, and felt his Rain gently slide into her Sky.

From what Byakuran told her, Takeshi was much like Squalo except far quieter but just as loyal. Once he got to the first level of mastery in his family's sword style, she was going to toss him the Sword Emperor to be his new training dummy until Takeshi had the moves ingrained into his very muscle memory.

At the very least he wouldn't be wasted in a civilian life.

Tsuyoshi was entirely unsurprised his son had gone Active, and agreed to teach Takeshi how to use a sword when he asked. He would not nudge his son to go with his potential Sky, but he would not hinder him either.

While the newly-Active Rain slept it off, Hotaru went to find a certain carnivore.

* * *

Hotaru had to sweatdrop...she did _not_ expect Kyouya to recognize her on sight and charge at her like that.

Fon was too busy laughing his ass off at their flirting to be of any use while Reborn took pictures.

"Come on Kyouya, how could I grow into a carnivore like you if I was always in your shadow? You have the _worst_ habit of taking out all the strong players and making them leave and then keep the lesser carnivores from having their own fun because you won't let them leave!" she protested irate.

Kyouya paused at that logic. It was true he tended to target the stronger players the second they became known to him. And that he would go after anyone who tried to become a carnivore in their own right, to test his own strength and prove his superiority.

Hotaru took a few breaths before he charged again.

"What if I offered you a deal? A chance to challenge other carnivores that might be worthy of your skill and power while still maintaining your den in Namimori? I have no interest in claiming this territory but even wolves don't hunt alone if they can help it. A pack can help you find better prey and more chances to prove your superiority as an alpha without having to worry about lesser animals trying to take you out because the pack would have your back!"

Seeing she had Kyouya's interest now, Hotaru pressed in for the kill.

Claws of flame appeared on her hand as the silhouette of a large black panther formed behind her. Eyes of amber stared down at the Cloud, and he couldn't help the feeling of anticipation in his blood.

A strange sensation filled him, and if he had been more experienced he would have correctly identified it as lust. Fon watched the entire scene with open amusement and eagerness.

It wasn't uncommon for female Skies to draw multiple lovers, however for such a thing to happen they had to be exceptionally powerful.

These days it was unheard of, as families tried to marry off the female Skies in an effort to breed even more. And even if they avoided that fate, they usually picked a single partner of their own for political gain or to strengthen their family ties with another.

Hotaru was unique in that she was secure enough in her own right to remain a 'stray cat' and was only taking the Decimo position because she honestly had no idea what to do with her life otherwise. Rising to the top as the World's Greatest Hit (Wo)man was only a stop gap measure and that was only if she were genuinely interested in the idea.

At least being Decima would give her something to do, as it took a lot of work to keep a famiglia together...especially since she would have to do a _lot_ of "spring cleaning" to get rid of the useless or dangerous elements that had been allowed to fester under the current Don's reign.

Elements like her own father, Iemitsu.

Fon watched with avid interest as Kyouya's battle-lust started to shift into something far more amusing. By now an unspoken understanding had been reached that Hotaru and her group were not interested in his claimed territory and were more than willing to allow him the freedom to come and go as he pleased...while calling him to the more fun fights where he could challenge himself properly.

Kyouya was all too aware he was a rather large fish in a rather small pond and that finding a decent opponent was nearly impossible at this point. By stepping onto a bigger playing field he might be able to find opponents worthy of his weapons and rise to even bigger heights.

And then Hotaru went for the 'kill' so to speak as she managed to pin Kyouya under her. She could feel his interest and reaction and smirked.

"Remember to wear protection," cackled Fon.

Hotaru grinned at Kyouya.

"Let's see if Rosethorn and I can put that stamina of yours to better use...and show you a more fun way to bite someone to death."

Fon was humming while he left to get his tea fix. Kyouya was in for one _hell_ of a night, the lucky brat. Fon was all too aware that Kyouya had never been with a woman...or a man, for that matter and he was about to be caught by surprise by the scheming Sky and her Lightning girlfriend.

Rosethorn had no interest in anyone but her Sky...but she was at least open minded enough to share with those she considered worthy.

Considering the bedraggled appearance of Kyouya the next morning, along with the odd looks his right hand was shooting him, Fon could only smirk.

That smirk turned rather devious when he felt Kyouya's flames purr as Hotaru lightly touched them with her own. Clearly he approved of her to some extent, but then again Hotaru was part Cloud herself and knew how to handle his instincts.

* * *

Takashi stared at Hotaru, who smiled back.

"You're offering me a place where I can be free."

"I'm offering you a chance to break free of the nightmare you've endured in this town. Namimori is a small pond and you are a medium sized fish that has shown it's fangs. It's the same reason _I_ left when I was eight, even if Kyouya was displeased that a small animal dared to leave his territory without permission."

Takeshi stared at her hard.

"So... are you really related to Ieyasu Sawada?"

"He's my twin brother. He was safe enough here and our mother has an untreated condition that had her focusing more heavily on him than me. They were better off without developing bad habits that would have turned me into a scapegoat for their own problems," said Hotaru bluntly. Takeshi wasn't the only one to wince... his father did as well, because he had seen Nana and her son before and could agree that such a situation was well within the realms of possibility.

Hotaru smirked at him and pulled out Hades.

"This is my weapon Hades. In the underworld I'm collectively known as the Black Cat, a hit woman who's well on their way to taking over the spot as the world's greatest hit man...or hit woman, since I have little interest in taking Reborn's title from him. If you want, you could join our group and find your own path without being bound by the petty fools that live in Namimori who strike back at anyone who shows even a fraction of individuality or strength. If they weren't so scared of Kyouya they might have gone after him as well."

"Who's Kyouya?" asked Takeshi.

"The demon Hibari," deadpanned Hotaru. He choked at that. Hotaru looked at Takeshi with a dead serious expression. "I know about the darkness in you. The one that allows you to kill without remorse or regret. The sort of thing no civilian would ever understand."

Takeshi cast a glance at his father, who held a resigned but not horrified look.

"I should have expected you would inherit that sort of thing, considering I was a hit man myself before you were born. I gave it up for your mother, but it's still there," said Tsuyoshi. "If you wish to find your own path and follow her, I will not stop you."

"Dad..."

"However if you do decide to leave, then I want to test your resolve. You'll have to master all eight forms of our family's sword style before you step foot outside the town limits."

"If he does learn it, then I fully plan to toss him to the current Sword Emperor until those moves become ingrained to the point of muscle memory. If anyone can teach him how to be a good Left Hand, it's the Right hand of the Varia Boss," said Hotaru.

Tsuyoshi looked skeptical.

"Why would the Sword Emperor agree to that?"

"Their boss likes me and so does the majority of the group. It doesn't hurt I let them rent apartments in the building I own for cheap when Mammon is cutting into their limited paycheck again because they're pissed off with their division," said Hotaru dryly. "At the very least Sqaulo would have far too much fun whipping Takeshi into shape just so he has a decent sparring partner for later."

Tsuyoshi snorted. That sounded more like it.

"How long are you lot in town?"

"Mammon and Belphegor will be returning within a few days, but Rosethorn, Fon and I will be staying for at least a week or two. We weren't expecting to have such an easy time locating a proper Cloud and Rain guardian and this means we can have a small vacation."

Tsuyoshi smiled. That was plenty of time to teach his son how to use the family's sword arts. His son might be baseball obsessed but he was rather bright in some respects. He already had the right muscles trained...it was just a matter of teaching him how to use them in new ways.

Perhaps it was a sign of fate, or perhaps it was just a strange stroke of luck (good or bad, it was hard to tell).

But as they were sitting down eating sushi in the restaurant a mother and son came in.

Hotaru recognized them the second they walked through the door, but of the mother-son duo only the son paused when their eyes met.

He frowned as if a great puzzle had appeared before him and demanded he solve it. A strange shiver of recognition passed in his soul, as if he should know that girl almost as well as he knew himself.

Then it passed and he silently shook his head.

The others picked up on how oddly tense their Sky was around that boy, and silently observed him. It didn't take a genius to realize this was the twin she left behind.

Really, she should have expected this confrontation to happen. It didn't take much for Ieyasu to follow her to an empty park with a confused look on his face.

"Why do I feel like I know you?"

Hotaru debated on what to tell him, then decided the truth was best.

"I'm your twin sister. When we were younger, we were somewhat close but our mother's depression and her obsession with trying to replace our father with you resulted in me leaving of my own accord. You were safe here and I could tell our mother wasn't so far gone as to delve into depraved acts, so I left you behind."

Ieyasu wanted to deny her words, to say that it was impossible he had a twin.

Except he had always had weird dreams, odd memories of playing with a girl the same age as him (only a few minutes older) with warm amber eyes. They lived and grew up together, before she abruptly changed and vanished. After that he had a mostly lonely childhood. Don't get him wrong, his mother doted on him and he had a few friends, but there was always something missing. Like a void in his heart that he knew would never be filled.

He had asked about the girl to his father, the rare times he was around, but Iemitsu never knew who he was talking about. As if the girl had never existed.

Seeing her standing before him, he felt as if a hole that had always been present was starting to fill.

"Why did you leave?"

"Our mother is so determined to stay in her little fantasy world that her depression made her dangerous. She fixated on you because you resemble that man so strongly, but she barely paid any notice of me. Only a fool would have stuck around in a situation where things could swiftly become intolerable. All it would take was a single good push and she would have easily turned against me, treating me as the source of her ills while she treated you like a prince. Furthermore with how easily children are swayed, it wouldn't have taken much for you to follow her lead."

As much as he wanted to deny it, he could easily admit to himself that he had done similar things in the name of making his mother happy. He wasn't that blind to the fact she was absolutely miserable unless Iemitsu was around.

Hotaru swiftly made a decision. There was no telling if Ieyasu had Sky flames as well, but he was still a source of the Primo's bloodline. Once she made her move he would become exposed, regardless of whether she was the culprit or not.

Iemitsu and the Ninth would never accept her claim as Decima...she had humiliated them too much and was too free for them to control. However Ieyasu was an innocent and therefor useful as a potential puppet if they played their cards right.

Such as sending Reborn to acclimate him to the underworld.

A wicked thought occurred to her.

"I wonder how Nana would react to a sudden win that brought her to the same area of Italy that Iemitsu has been working in, with a special voucher to the restaurant he favors the most?"

Ieyasu had a sudden chill down his spine.

"What are you planning?"

"Just opening her eyes to what he's really been doing while she wastes away in this town. A few well placed words and he'll have no choice but to keep her close while you disappear from their radar. Mama gets to spend a lot of time with her lout of a husband, you don't get dragged into their ridiculous schemes, and I get to have my brother back. It's a win for all three of us and the perfect way to block the idiots who call themselves wise because of their age and 'experience'."

Ieyasu almost debated on agreeing to such a thing...except he felt like he was caged in Namimori, and this was the doorway to an exciting adventure.

He would not let his twin slip away so easily again, even if he had to walk the same path!


	11. Chapter 11

Reborn eyed Ieyasu with open interest.

"Dare I ask how you managed to not only find a strong Rain and Cloud willing to become your Guardians, but also managed to drag your twin here without alerting the Vongola?"

"Easy. I made up a fake contest and gave my mother a chance to find out where her husband was and insured she would stumble across him, then spirited my brother away once she was on the plane. As far as anyone in _that_ neighborhood is concerned Ieyasu is out scouting colleges to apply to now that he doesn't have to worry about his mother. Naturally he didn't say which colleges he was interested in, so no one will be able to trace where he is since he forgot his cell phone," said Hotaru.

Reborn approved of the trick. Iemitsu would be too busy protecting his wife during her 'vacation', and wouldn't think to look for his son in the interim.

"Of course the second he tries to send her home, I'm going to spread rumors that the External Adviser is worried that his security around his civilian family isn't enough, which will force him to keep her close and waste resources attempting to locate Ieyasu. With a few adjustments to his appearance and a Mist illusion or two, he'll be safe with us when I make my bid for Decima, since they won't be able to use him against me later."

Reborn hummed with approval. His Sky was both devious and intelligent. By claiming her brother now, before she made her true flame known, she had effectively taken him under her wing. And as twins, there was a high chance he would have a Sky flame as well... twin Skies were a rarity though, but when they appeared a symbiotic resonance was not impossible.

Such existences were downright terrifying, and could raise a famiglia into the upper echelons of the underworld if cultivated carefully.

Best of all she was eliminating the chance of a potential rival being brought up by the Ninth generation and her father in an attempt to remove her from the post of Decima if her brother had a Sky flame as well.

Besides, by directing her mother to her errant husband she was causing all sorts of mischief that Iemitsu couldn't repay later. His philandering ways was about to come to a sharp and sudden end.

Somehow Reborn had the feeling Lal was going to laugh her ass off when she found out what really happened.

* * *

Federico was tense. He had recently been designated as the Vongola heir and he knew damn well that there were sharks just waiting in the wings to take him out. His Guardians weren't much to speak of and his own skills were rather pitiful.

It would be far too simple to have him killed off. He was under _no_ illusions on that front.

The only thing that gave him hope was the knowledge that there was another Sky of the Vongola bloodline waiting in the wings to declare a Ring Battle. Even if he found the appropriate flame types, he knew damn well that he wouldn't stand a chance against the other Sky's Elements.

For god's sake, she had the likes of _Reborn_ and _Fon_ as her Guardians! How was he supposed to compare to that?

So Federico kept his head down and waited. When she came to challenge him he would give it his best and become External Adviser without a complaint like they agreed. He had never liked Iemitsu anyway and as External Adviser his position would be secured without being forced to fight against a powerhouse capable of having two Arcobaleno in their Sky.

His father had no idea what was waiting for him. Federico merely kept an eye for good Elements that had some effect on his own Flames in the hopes of finding actual Guardians before the appointed time.

Xanxus had helpfully given him the location of the Vongola laws that specifically dealt with inheritance and the Ring Battles. Once they were declared he planned to leak them through the Alliance to firm up the girl's position when she won and make it impossible for his father to force her removal through another contest.

Unlike Daniela, who had to fight through that three times before her own claim was accepted and her position secured.

He just had to wait until the timing was right to give Xanxus the signal. He had no idea who the hidden Sky was, but his adopted brother had assured him that the girl had recently completed her Sky and that her Rain just needed a bit of refinement before he could be considered ready.

Reborn had already secured the position as her primary Right hand, as her Lightning had taken the post of the Left. However her Rain, according to Xanxus could easily be considered a contender for the Left once he trained up enough.

Federico shivered, and was openly _glad_ he had agreed to take the External Adviser spot, rather than challenge a powerhouse to a position he was ill-equipped to handle and had never dreamed would be within his reach. She had even set a reasonable restriction on his behavior...he could sleep around as much as he wanted so long as he took responsibility for any children he sired and was able to raise CEDEF from out of the muck it had become mired in thanks to Iemitsu.

So when his father walked in with an important look on his face, he knew down to his bones that the time limit was about to become shortened exponentially.

"Federico, as my heir I would like you to become a bit more familiar with our allies. Which is why I'm giving you this assignment."

Federico took one look at the mission and felt a shiver of apprehension in his Intuition. It was barely a flicker, but he knew damn well it was giving him the loudest warning he was likely to get in his life.

An idea occurred to him, one that made the shiver dissipate.

His father merely handed him a mission...he said nothing against hiring outside contractors, especially those previously associated with the famiglia in good standing.

And didn't his grandmother speak highly of her Cloud who was known as the Black Cat? A woman who was quickly starting to take the title of the greatest hit woman?

Plan formed, Federico nodded and agreed, while discreetly making an inquiry to see if the Black Cat would humor his request for one assignment. If he paid out of his own pocket then his father didn't need to know he had hired the former Cloud Guardian who had humiliated him so much on Nonna's orders.

* * *

 _Hotaru POV_

"I just got an interesting request," she said grinning.

"Oh?" said Reborn.

"Federico Vongola called and asked if I would be willing to act as his temporary Cloud for an assignment. Apparently his father gave him a mission that's giving him a bad vibe and he's willing to pay out of pocket for a bit of discretion."

Reborn couldn't help the snort of amusement. Federico had absolutely no idea who his rival and replacement was, which was for good reason. If he had known he had just hired the true Vongola Decima he might have choked in shock.

He couldn't wait for the chaos to start.

For the most part it seemed a simple mission, though Federico spent most of the time spoiling Hotaru's cat Dani.

The fickle feline rarely let just anyone scratch her chin, but she tolerated Federico enough to allow him that right.

It was as they were returning to the agreed point where they would part ways that it happened.

The car jolted, and it was clear they were being attacked.

"Stay close to me and keep your head down," she hissed at him. "I don't want to hunt down another decent External Adviser because you got in over your head."

Federico stared at her, before he remembered the odd comment his grandmother made regarding her relationship with her "Cloud" and realization dawned on him.

Daniela had always referred to Black Cat as her "apprentice", not Guardian. And she had given the woman far more respect and attention than a Sky simply teaching her Guardian how to use her Flames for the first time.

Daniela had no Cloud Flames... it was rather hard to teach about a flame type you didn't have. However teaching a young _Sky_ who managed to hide behind a Cloud secondary was another matter altogether.

And it fit within his grandmother's personality to play such a trick on his father. She would think it hilarious to raise a proper successor after Enrico died, especially when it almost literally fell right into her lap!

And didn't Xanxus say that the true Decima he planned to back came from the Primo's bloodline?

Xanxus wasn't the only one to stumble across Timoteo's journals. He had a rather strange habit of leaving them in places where they could be found by the wrong people, which was why Federico knew about Iemitsu having twin children, a boy and a girl, with the eldest being a female.

Now that he was looking for it, he could see the resemblance.

Federico couldn't believe he was being protected by the future Vongola Decima, but he kept his silence. If he survived this then at least he could claim he got to see her capability first hand before she revealed her identity to the underworld.

And Black Cat didn't disappoint. She was as lethally effective as Reborn with the bearing of Daniela in her younger years. It was as if the Ottava and the Primo had some sort of bizarre love child to create their heir.

Suddenly he felt himself yanked to the side as he avoided a rather nasty attack that would have left him bones. Whoever had thrown that had wanted to make damn sure he was dead!

Black Cat killed his attacker, before driving them to the agreed point.

Federico was shaking heavily, and just wanted to get back to the main house and try not to freak out at the close call he had.

However it was the look in his father's eyes that made him fear for his life and sanity.

Timoteo was a good don, but that didn't always equate to being a good father. And right now he was looking at his youngest and only living blood son with some disgust for showing such weakness. It was even worse when he revealed he had found out through Federico's own Guardians that he had hired _Black Cat_ of all people, who Federico knew that his father did not like at all.

Federico could only fall back against the overbearing feel of his father's Sky.

His own Guardians had sold him out?

The need to get this farce over with was becoming even more important than ever, if he couldn't trust the people he had supposedly harmonized with.

Come to think of it, how had the enemy known the route they were taking? Black Cat had insisted on picking one at the last minute and had changed direction repeatedly, to throw off any potential problems and they had _still_ found them.

Federico looked at his phone.

He needed to make a stop to the Varia to get answers.

 _In the Varia castle..._

Xanxus wasn't the only one who was furious...so was Federico.

Not _only_ had one of his "guardians" betrayed him, but they were actively trying to sabotage the Vongola within.

Enough was enough. Federico was damn tired of playing his father's political games and he needed a clean slate to work with. Finding out his Guardian bonds were all fake had been the final straw, and if he had to trick his father into making him a full heir to spark a Ring Battle with Black Cat, then so be it.

He had long made his peace with the arrangement and he had no intention of letting this disgusting farce continue any longer.

* * *

The underworld was positively buzzing with the news. Federico was about to undertake the inheritance ceremony and become the official heir of the Vongola, and would later take the place of his father in a few short years.

After the death of the original heir, and later the middle son, this was rather big news.

Federico wasn't nearly as strong as his brothers, and everyone knew it. If he became Decimo then it was only a matter of time before the Vongola exposed a dangerous weakness. It didn't help that Federico had yet to collect all his Elements for his rather weak Sky, and there was even rumor of a rift between him and his Guardians.

Even so, the Alliance gathered in the special hall designed for the inheritance ceremony three months after the near death incident Federico had been in.

There was a special buzz going around those inside, all eagerly awaiting the show that was soon to begin.

Above in the rafters, Hotaru was awaiting for the prearranged signal to shake things up, with the others waiting in the wings.

As Timoteo prepared to hand over the official Vongola heir rings to his son (Federico had been using a spare ring set as he hadn't been officially declared heir at that point) the lights went out.

When the turned back on, Black Cat was standing on the other side of the stage behind Federico with the Sky half-ring...and it was ablaze with her Flames. _All_ of them, showcasing she wasn't just a Cloud after all.

Timoteo looked furious.

"What is the meaning of this?" he demanded, beyond angry.

"Consider this a little overdue payback from the Primo's line. I'm reclaiming the seat Ricardo stole from Giotto and taking back my inheritance," she announced loudly. Her smirk was positively vicious as she then added "Your External Adviser should have kept a better eye on his kids, especially when you two decided to _seal_ his daughter's Sky after she went Active. Did you really think I would forget what you did to me?"

Dead silence was the only way to describe the hall.

First Black Cat interrupted the ceremony, then she displayed a rather impressive amount of Sky Flames, rather than Cloud, and now she was boldly declaring herself a descendant of the Primo... while insinuating that the External Adviser and the Ninth Vongola don had conspired together to seal a young female Sky as a _child_ , which any idiot knew was a bad idea because it could cause irreparable harm to their Flames.

Timoteo was clearly beyond furious and if possible would have killed Black Cat on the spot.

"What proof do you have of your claims to be of the Primo's bloodline?"

Hotaru's smirk was even more vicious at that.

"Daniela Vongola, when she removed the seal, immediately did a blood test to find out which famiglia I belonged to, as only another Sky could have placed that seal. She wanted to know why she felt _your_ flames on mine, and discovered my heritage. We only pretended that I was her Cloud so that you fools wouldn't get the 'bright' idea to try and marry me off out of some perceived claim on me in order to do damage control," said Hotaru coldly.

Envelopes fell from the ceiling, throw down by Reborn and the others, with the papers inside being certified copies of the original.

One by one the Alliance dons all looked at Hotaru with disbelief and anticipation. They all recognized the company and the special seal that was applied to certified copies. The fact it was addressed to Daniela only made the claim even more authentic...there was also the fact that Black Cat had kept the Flames on the ring going, which was only possible if she had a blood connection to the family.

The Vongola Rings were notorious for rejecting those who didn't have the right bloodline attached.

Then Hotaru dealt the final blow and started the next part of the plan.

She reached under her shirt to reveal... Daniela's Sky Ring, which any of the older generation would recognize on sight. A ring that _should_ have been in the Vongola vaults along with her Guardian rings.

Setting that ablaze had Timoteo's face turn to blind fury.

"I'm declaring my intent to reclaim my birth right and challenge your heir to a Ring Battle, as per Vongola's laws set by Giotto and Ricardo before Giotto's retirement."

There was a silent buzz in the hall, as Black Cat's announcement sunk in.

The Vongola succession was now thrown up in the air, as once a Ring Battle was declared among heirs the Vongola were duty-bound by their own laws to enact it.

The fact that the next morning a full copy of the rules and laws regarding Ring Battles were "leaked" by Xanxus only infuriated Timoteo further, as it meant he couldn't suddenly spring another heir to try and usurp Black Cat if she won.


	12. Chapter 12

Timoteo was livid with fury. Not only had that upstart Black Cat, who had humiliated him so thoroughly in regards to Xanxus appeared during the important ceremony, but they had also challenged Federico to a Ring Battle knowing perfectly well his son didn't have a full complement of Guardians!

Worse, that damn freelancer had openly come out with his _mother's_ Guardian rings! He had gone to the vault only to confirm that the ones in there were missing, with traces of Mist inside the box.

To add insult to injury, one of his mother's legitimate Guardians came forward with a handwritten letter declaring Daniela's choice in the Tenth Vongola boss. According to the laws set down by the Second boss, the Ring battles required a living Vongola Don to name their candidate for heir...it said nothing about the don having to be a current one.

Iemitsu was completely caught off guard by the knowledge his daughter, who had apparently been living right under their nose for over a decade under a false name and had risen to roughly the same heights as Reborn (according to all his sources Black Cat hadn't been promoting their name at all, but had gained that title on the word of others) without their notice.

It hadn't taken much to dig up the birth records, proving Iemitsu had twins, the eldest being his daughter Hotaru Sawada.

Come to think of it, the 'prize ticket' that had caused Iemitsu no end of trouble with his less than amused wife was clearly faked even if the plane ticket had been paid for legitimately. And none of his subordinates could find Ieyasu, who had gone out on a 'college hunting trip' with no set date on when he would return.

It was enough to make his blood boil.

"Coyote, send out for Reborn."

Coyote didn't ask... clearly his Sky had plans to use the Sun in order to find Ieyasu and determine if the boy was a Sky as well to challenge his sister. After all, what were the odds Hotaru would have found decent Guardians if she was hiding her true nature.

So Timoteo was quite baffled when Reborn's only reply to the "polite request" for a meeting was met with a flat "No."

Regardless of the money he offered, Reborn refused to meet with him... a fact that did not go unnoticed by the underworld. The only explanation the Sun Arcobaleno could give was that he was under a prior engagement and would come once he was finished. And that the date was shortly after the Ring Battles were to commence.

Timoteo could only grit his teeth and bear it. He had no idea what sort of assignment the Sun had taken, but he could still hold onto hope to salvage this mess.

He only realized his mistake when the first battle between the Sun Guardians began.

* * *

 _Third POV_

The underworld eagerly watched from multiple sources as the Vongola Ring Battles began. From the lowest mafioso to the higher famiglias that could boast a Sky at their helm, everyone eagerly acted as observers to see who would win.

So it was only natural the sheer ripple it caused when _Reborn_ of all people walked onto the small arena meant for the Sun Guardian wearing the Vongola Sun ring that had belonged to the Eighth generation. A ripple that became a wave of shock when he openly admitted that he had harmonized with the Black Cat, or rather Hotaru Sawada, several years ago as her Sun...shortly after Daniela's death when Hotaru was forced to break off her relationship with the Cavallone Sky because of the animosity Timoteo had towards her.

The result was pretty obvious... Reborn slaughtered the simpering fool Federico had as his Sun. A woman all too happy to send her Sky to his death for a bit of money.

The fact Federico spat on her corpse and openly said "good riddance" said volumes that there was a lot of unspoken tension between the two. Even if the full story didn't come out until several months later, the fact he hadn't shed a single tear to her death was pretty damning.

Timoteo could have vomited blood the second he found out Reborn had long since chosen a side in the matter.

Then came the Storm battle, in which Fon appeared and defeated his opponent quickly enough.

Two Arcobaleno, and the strongest fighters out of the group had already harmonized with the infamous Black Cat! Her reputation soared exponentially among those allied to the Vongola.

It only went up even further when her Lightning was revealed to be none other than the twin of the Gesso's tenth don, all too happy to declare who her Sky was. It was no secret that the twin of Byakuran was difficult and had been kept almost under lock and key because of her unpredictable nature... and yet it seemed the Black Cat had managed to tame that feral beast with ridiculous ease.

Timoteo couldn't help but wonder at how calm his son was being about the entire thing. In fact he almost seemed _relieved_ that he was steadily losing any chance to be Vongola Decimo.

A sudden suspicion filled his mind as he quietly confronted Federico.

"You knew this was going to happen."

"I knew there was another Sky from the Primo's line waiting to claim the titles, but not who she was. Just that Grandmother had confirmed her lineage before she died and took her as an apprentice. I'm not fit to be Decimo and I'm not about to challenge someone who managed to get _Xanxus_ to approve of them, so we made an agreement. We'd set the stage for a Ring Battle, I would give it my best shot and once I lost I'd become the External Adviser and curtail Iemitsu's bad behavior," said Federico flatly. "It's called knowing your own limits and not overreaching them if it means damaging the family."

Timoteo was not liking how this was going. Federico's Guardians had come to the horrifying realization that none of Black Cat's own were going to hold back in the battles, as death was allowed within certain limits provided the neutral overseer didn't stop it in time.

The fact Federico had stood by and watched without raising protest said far too much about his bonds with them, as was the fact he wasn't showing the slightest sign of grief when they were killed.

If there really _had_ been a bond between them, then he would have been enraged or distraught. Not completely calm with a hint of disdain.

Federico was entirely calm about the fact two of his Guardians abandoned him, leaving their rings behind to flee for their lives. Black Cat had assembled a team of known powerhouses and strong Flames and they weren't holding back.

They'd rather live than continue with this farce.

But just to prove a point, they continued on to the last battle despite the one-sided slaughter of Federico's Guardians.

By this point most of the other families had figured out that there was a prearranged agreement on the side involving Black Cat and the Varia. That Nono's last blood son was losing so badly was clearly a show they were putting on for the Ninth and the Alliance so that Black Cat, who was so clearly a superior Sky compared to Federico, could claim their inheritance _legally_ in a way the Ninth couldn't usurp them for later to install his own candidate.

It was Federico's own fault for not training as hard as he clearly had, or for finding actual Guardians. Clearly he was using this to rid himself of the useless hanger-ons he had been forced to call his Elements.

The fact that Black Cat let him live and publicly announced she would be making him her External Adviser while demoting Iemitsu to a much lower rank in his own group was just icing on the cake.

* * *

Timoteo glared at Black Cat, or rather Hotaru Sawada. She stared back without a hint of fear or remorse for what she had done.

"Just so we're clear, the second I get installed as Decima I'm sending you and your Guardians on a mandatory vacation as far from me as possible."

"You make it sound as though it's a done deal," he bit out.

Her smirk was predatory and there was the aura of a large panther behind her.

"There are a few facts you are unaware of. The rings Daniela had were in fact the _original_ Vongola rings, not the copies that Ricardo had made because the ones Giotto had kept giving him trouble. I can also pull out any of the previous bosses, including your own mother long before this farce began. There is also the laws that the Primo and Secundo put into place regarding the Ring Battles. The loser serves the winner, and if no other candidates appear with the appropriate flame within a month of the fight, then by default I am installed as heir regardless of how the current Don feels about it."

Timoteo made it a higher priority to find Ieyasu and prayed to god that the boy had a Sky Flame.

Hotaru wanted so desperately to make a jab at the old bastard about her twin, but held her tongue. She just had to keep him hidden for a month and a half, and by then the deadline would have passed. Even if Ieyasu _did_ have a Sky flame, he couldn't try to take the title of Decima from her.

The best he could hope for was the title of Eleventh and that was only if no one could prove he had been behind her death. Federico had already lost the qualifications needed to become Decimo (a fact he was very happy with, even if he had to suffer Lal's hell training for the next two months) which left Ieyasu as Timoteo's only hope to salvage this mess.

Ieyasu was just glad that his sister had fully planned for that eventuality, because he was safely hidden until the deadline. There was a distinct animosity between the Ninth Vongola generation and the soon to be instated "Tenth", which anyone could sense.

Any hopes of removing the new Vongola heir as easily as the previous ones were rather harshly curtailed by several factors.

The first and foremost being the fact that she had harmonized with Reborn of all people, as well as the infamous Eye of the Storm. That swiftly removed several potential enemies right off the bat as no one sane wanted to piss off _two_ Arcobaleno.

The second was that Black Cat had made a name for herself without the backing of the Vongola or even allowing her true Flame type to be known. She did have a Cloud secondary but the fact everyone had been blindsided by her Sky said volumes of her cunning and resourcefulness.

The third was her allies. The Gesso famiglia had openly announced their Alliance with "Vongola Decima", which was entirely unsurprising since she had Byakuran's twin as her Lightning. The Cavallone had also come out and made an alliance with her, which again wasn't too shocking as she had dated Dino previously before Daniela's death. And with two of the strongest Arcobaleno as her Elements, it was only natural that her allies would include the Giglio Nero famiglia who had the current Sky Arcobaleno.

Never mind the fact she was openly being friendly with the Varia, who had removed themselves from Vongola's internal politics until a new don was chosen.

It said volumes of Black Cat's level of planning, to successfully usurp the reigns of the Vongola don right out from under the Ninth's own sons and by completely blindsiding the Ninth generation and the Alliance in one fell swoop.

Truly the Vongola Decima was Daniela's apprentice. This was just the sort of stunt she would pull back in her prime to throw her enemies completely off balance while coming out with her full strength all in one go as a warning.

Those who had thought to profit over the Vongola's weakness were halted in their tracks by the appearance of a proper heir already trained and with enough strength in their own right to make a famiglia that could enter the big leagues without relying on the Vongola's power.

Everyone watched in anticipation to see exactly how far Black Cat could bring the Vongola now that she was operating in the open.

* * *

"You certainly set the cat among the pigeons," said Dino cheekily.

"Oh ha ha," said Hotaru.

"I wasn't expecting you to be from the Primo's bloodline."

"Daniela found out after she had a blood test run the second she realized I was a Sky, and we conspired against the Ninth because he's an idiot. To first fool your enemies you must fool your friends, and this way even if you were interrogated they would have gotten nothing."

Dino could accept that. He would also let Hotaru make the first move if she wished to rekindle their relationship...he wasn't a complete fool.

"While marriage is off the table, acting as a surrogate is still an option," said Hotaru smiling at him. She missed Dino and his goofy attitude.

Dino paused, before brightening.

"Besides, according to both Fon and Reborn it's not that unheard of for female Skies to have multiple lovers. It's just rare because most of them are married off early to produce more Skies or for political gain."

Dino sputtered at that.

"What I don't get is how you get along so easily with the Varia. Xanxus and Squalo rarely speak that highly of anyone!"

"Probably because I was just like them before, so I understand perfectly the headaches of being a hired assassin in a big group with a lot of power...just without Flames."

The Varia wasn't too dissimilar to Chronos...they were just open about the fact they were part of the criminal underworld and didn't give a damn about hiring the crazies.

It said a lot that they barely batted an eye at Rosethorn's habits and would have welcomed her with open arms the second she killed Levi-a-Than, even if she kept trying to kill Xanxus because he wasn't her beloved Black Cat.

(Levi always felt like the spectre of death was behind him every time Rosethorn came around. Naturally everyone else found this rather hilarious.)

Dino...wisely decided not to ask. Even if it did partially explain why Xanxus happily went drinking with Rosethorn and Hotaru regularly.


End file.
